Mass Effect: Legacy
by revshep
Summary: Nearly two decades after the Reaper war, the galaxy enjoys an uneasy peace. But there are always fires smoldering, some worse than others and there's a need for people to put them out. Follow Shiala Shepard as she makes her journey into adulthood. f!Shep/Liara/OC, Mass Effect belongs to BioWare.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The transport shook rather violently as it reentered normal space and she exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She was used to being in space, space wasn't the problem, but making a jump in a small transport was quite different than doing so in a ship of respectable size. She looked around the compartment and the faces told her that at least she wasn't alone, the apprehension lay thick.

"First jump, blue?" Asked the lanky young human to her right, a small chuckle to his voice  
"I'm an asari traveling on a transport from Earth, what do you think?" She snarled in response, regretting her tone almost immediately. The boy just stared at her, surprised.  
"Sorry..." she sighed "just not used to making the jump in something as... unstable as this. Usually I'm on something more sturdy"  
"Unstable?" he responded, banging the bulkhead with a smirk "Alliance' finest! Nothing but sweat, steel and quality. Size isn't everything." his smirk growing wider "Oh, I'm David by the way... or Dave if you like"  
"Shia" she responded, meeting his handshake  
"Shia? That short for something?"  
"That would be telling" she responded, smiling as her mothers words echoed in her mind "You might find out one day"

They air fell silent again, both of them taking comfort in the hum of the engines and the rocking of the ship to fill the void. She pondered her situation. Graduation, one night of booze, one day of sleep and then off to the spaceport. She found it hard to believe that she had still been in High School only a week ago. _Feels... longer?_ She thought. Eighteen really might be too young to be doing this. Her mother had suggested as much, but she was determined. And when Shia set her mind to something, her mom always supported her, even if it might scare her a bit. And then there was dad, of course. She smiled at the thought. They'd seen her off that morning, all dressed up too. Mom in her red and white ambassadors dress, and dad in her dress blues. She had been strong, determined... Or so she thought, but as soon as the doors closed and the transport took off, she felt an intense longing. She'd never been away from home for more than a few days, and always to visit someone close to her. Grandma Hannah, aunt Miri, aunt Tali. Visiting grandpa was the best though, not that she liked her more than the others, but visiting Thessia was something in itself, grandmas house in Arizona had trouble competing. The fact that she could walk around without sticking out like a blue light bulb didn't make it any less appealing. Her mind grew sad with thoughts of home and family, _Mom...dad...I won't see them for almost a year_ unable to stop a few tears escaping her green eyes, rolling softly over the light blue skin.

David couldn't help but notice her change in mood. He thought about ignoring it, but something told him that she might actually need a little pick-me-up.  
"First time away from home?" He asked softly  
Shia nodded, wiping her tears. _Damn it Shia! Embarrassing!_ she thought, a little angry with herself  
"Y-Yeah. Was bound to happen sooner or later, right?" She responded, forcing a smile  
David put a reassuring hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, it get's easier, give it a few days and you'll be right at home... might even be fun"  
She let out a light chuckle "Thanks" she said, receiving a happy nod in return  
"Wait. So, first time away from home? You were born on Earth?" Davids surprise was obvious as he spoke  
"Yeah. Dad's human" Shia responded "She works for the Alliance... you know, dirtside"  
"She?" David asked with a puzzled expression "Oh, right! Forgot about that" he exclaimed when he met Shias eyes. She just smirked and shook her head  
"So, navy brat then?"  
"Uh huh, in a way. Not like I grew up in space or anything. As I said, dad works dirtside. You know, farmhouse in upstate New York, home for dinner every night. That sort of thing" She smiled, the sadness from earlier still lingering, but less pronounced now.  
"So, what about you" She asked after a moment of silence  
"Spacer all the way. I was born on Arcturus, didn't even set foot on a rock til' I was 14" he said proudly "But I did spend my senior year on Earth, mom thought I should experience it for a while. She seemed to think that once I enlisted, I wouldn't get the chance again." he let out a quiet laugh

Their conversation was cut off by the captain calling out over the speakers "Ok, time to wake up back there! On final approach to Benning, ETA to Camp Euler is ten minutes. Just follow the instructions of the TO and you'll do fine; good luck" The tension in the room rose immediately, all fifty recruits seemed to be holding their breaths, their eyes moving uneasily around the compartment.

"All right, you heard the man" The TO shouted "I'm Training Officer Adams. Just follow instructions and we'll all get through this in flying colors. Once we land, line up single file outside the transport. You'll be issued your gear and given further instructions. So, just keep up and shut up"  
"Guess this is it then" Shia quipped, looking up at David  
"Yep" He replied confidently. Shia couldn't tell if he was faking or not "Good luck down there"  
"Yeah, you too" 

"Get on the ready line! Go, go, go!" Adams shouted over the roar of the shuttle engines. Dust blew around the assembled group. Shia glanced around her, careful not to turn her head. She could see similar gatherings all over the quad, each in groups of fifty. Before them stood a couple of tables, packed with black and blue packages, each with a white label attached. Something about seeing all these teenagers, all dressed in casual clothes, at least two wearing Expel 10 promo shirts, all the while standing in military formation made her feel like laughing out loud. She managed to suppress it, but just barely.

As the shuttles flew of, Adams spoke once again, softer this time but still quite stern. Shia wasn't phased by it, she'd heard the tone from her father plenty of times, not always under the best of circumstances. "Welcome to Camp Euler. For now, all you need to do is listen carefully and follow the instructions. Body piercings are prohibited, hair is to be kept in regulation style or length." He said, glancing at a girl near the middle of the line, her hair flowing almost down to her waist. "You may speak once given permission to do so by a superior officer, the first and last words out of your mouths will be sir or ma'am." He paused, briefly, letting the words sink in "Do I make myself clear!" He roared.  
"Sir, yes Sir!" Came the resounding response  
Adams was slightly taken aback by this, usually he would repeat the question at least once for effect, but it seemed unnecessary this time. Adams nodded approvingly.  
"Step up and collect your gear and get inside the barracks, pick a bunk and get dressed. Assembly in the briefing room to be adressed by the company CO in 10. Fall out!" 

Shia sat with her new company in the briefing room of the barracks. The room smelt vaguely of disinfectant. Her dad once joked that the barracks of boot camp were clean enough for a quarian to eat off the floors. Aunt Tali had disagreed of course, but it was funny never the less. She let her fingers brush over her brand new tags. She liked the uniform, it was comfortable and it felt right somehow. Still, she was never one for waring blue for obvious reasons, but at least the black detail broke it off a little bit. The mood in the room was somber, everyone was still adjusting, making sure that the haphazard job they'd done of making their hair stand up to scrutiny was sufficient, or just cursing their own names for getting themselves into this mess.

Shia jumped slightly as training officer Adams entered the room  
"Ten-hut!" He shouted, and the whole room rose in unison at the command. The sync could have been better, but Adams was still impressed for a group of first day recruits, much as he had been out on the quad.  
The room filled with the two other training officers assigned to the company, followed by the commanding officer. Shia couldn't see them clearly, having taken a seat on the second row at the far left. She resisted the urge to turn her head, but eventually stole a quick glance at the front. Her eyes widened, _Oh... crap_

"At ease" The woman said in a soft yet stern voice "I'm Captain Williams, commanding officer of Echo Company." She said, letting her eyes wander over the crowd. Shia wasn't listening, lost in her own thoughts _Shit... Aunt Ashley? Really?_  
"We'll start with roll call, when I call out your name, you sound off" Captain Ashley Williams continued "Aaki, Sandra!" She called out, receiving an insecure yet loud "Ma'am!" from a timid girl in the front row to the right, coupled with a standing salute, her waist long hair now tied up in a regulation bun. Ashley nodded as the girl sat back down.

Ashley loved this part of the job, she'd transferred to training detail two years ago, and this was her second group of recruits, or litter, as she liked to call them. Eager young minds, ready to serve, ready to head out into the galaxy and show it what for. It took her back for sure. She continued down the list of names, making sure to etch each and every face into her mind. She was going to be rough, but she would care for each and every one of them.

Shia rubbed her hands nervously as the list of names already called grew longer and longer. What could she do? Well, nothing really. Keep up and shut up, as Adams said.  
"Romanov, Alexandra I." Ashley continued  
 _This is it_ , she braced herself  
Ashley moved on to the next name and her mind froze for a few seconds, _Shia?_ , stumbling on her words slightly as she called out the next name. "Sh... Shepard, Shiala J.

Pushing all of her nervousness to the back of her mind, Shia let out a confident "Ma'am!" as she stood up and snapped to attention, looking over to Ashley, the woman she'd grown up knowing, her aunt, the same woman who'd carried her on her shoulders and played with her in the snow when they all gathered for Christmas. And now, her new CO. Their eyes met, and Ashley couldn't help but let the faintest smile paint her lips as she nodded warmly to the familiar young woman with the pale blue skin and the vibrant green eyes. Shia felt immediate relief when she saw the warm expression on her aunts face. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem after all. No, of course not, aunt Ash was a professional. Dad had been out there with her shooting stuff since before she and mom met. _T-This might be... might be good_ she thought as she returned to her seat.

Ashley continued the roll call with a slight smirk on her face. _Damn it, Shepard, you could have called first_ , snickering ever so slightly. She finished addressing the newcomers, gathering up her papers as Adams roared "Ten-hut". The room rose in unison as the young group all snapped to attention. "You now begin your new lives as enlisted personnel in the System Alliance Navy. The next couple of months are going to be hard, do your best, never give up, and together, we'll get you there. Believe in these words, but above all, believe in yourselves." Ashley paused briefly "Sound good!?"  
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" The group roared with renewed vigor, saluting the CO.

Ashley couldn't hide her smile as she returned the salute  
"Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Alliance"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As Shia made her way back towards the dormitory, entering the common room she spotted David. He'd gather with some of the other recruits by a small table in the far corner, slumping down in a sofa that seemed to be a bit too worn down and soft for comfort. He spotted her almost immediately as she walked in, waving excitedly.

"Shia! Over here!" he called out across the room, stifling the soft murmur of the other recruits momentarily. Shia froze in place for a few seconds, then shrugged it off and made her way over to the group. _Here we go... again._  
"Hey Dave" She greeted him, feigning confidence  
"You two know each other?" the question came from the small girl in the sofa, the same one who she'd seen at assembly and who had been the first call up at roll call.  
"Yeah, well... no, not really" David replied "we chatted a bit during transit, the rest of you were too busy examining your feet for 15 hours straight" a teasing smirk growing across his face  
"Douche!" the girl huffed "couldn't even wait 'til we hit solid ground to start chatting up the ladies?" she said, turning her attention to Shia "Don't mind him, he's always been like that, lucky for me my dad was around to keep him at bay" she continued merrily "Oh, I'm Sandra by the way, but you can call me Aaki, everyone else does. Shorter, easier... cuter too"  
Shia nodded and greeted Aaki with a firm handshake "Shia, nice too meet you... So, I'm guessing that means you guys _do_ know each other?"  
"Yeah, we grew up on the same ship, the Arlington. Suffice it to say I've had to drag Daves ass out of the service tubes plenty 'o times" she replied, laughing loudly as she finished  
"Oh whatever!" He responded, lobbing a small ball of rolled up paper at her with a huff  
"Is there nothing but spacers around here?" Shia asked puzzled  
"Oh there are, Mia here's from Earth... and so are you, I hear?"  
Shia looked over at the quiet girl sitting to the left, she had hardly noticed her, her lithe frame seemed to be swallowed whole by the large couch. Blonde hair, tied neatly into a short ponytail, a pair of Alliance issue rimless glasses covering a pair of nervous blue eyes. "Nice to meet you" she said, shaking the girls hand. She seemed to relax a bit when Shia decided to take the initiative "Yeah, you too"

They chatted for a good couple of minutes, the mood was light and they all seemed to relax once they realized that at least a few people were friendly. "I think I'm gonna get something to drink, anyone else want something?" They all shook their heads and she headed off to the vending machine at the other side of the room.

David bit his lip lightly as he pondered whether he should ask her or not. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him.  
"So... Shepard?" ha asked with an inquisitive tone  
 _Yep.. here we go_ "That's my name" Shia stated matter of factly, trying to steer the conversation away from the subject  
"That dad of yours, the one who works on Earth... Wouldn't happen to be Admiral Sarah Shepard, would it?  
"What? Really?" Mia joined in, her insecurity seemed far away now, and her eyes nearly doubled in size with amazement  
Shia just sat there for a moment, unsure how to deal with this. Her fathers reputation was something she'd never gotten used to, and while her parents never expected her to try top live up to it, she often felt like everyone else might.  
"Look" she said eventually "Can we not make a big deal out of this?"  
"So it _is_ you!" David exclaimed "Ha! I knew it. Galaxies finest right here. Your dad's a legend!" His smiled dipped when his eyes met Shias, her expression a mix of annoyance and fear  
"I-I'm not my father, ok?" She said solemnly "Can we please just drop it?"  
David just stared at her for a moment, the conversation had taken a turn pretty quickly and he hadn't expected such a reaction. _Well, I can't really blame her. Being the son of a Captain is bad enough, it's probably 100 times that for her._ He thought.  
"Ok, we'll drop it" he said eventually, shooting her a warm smile.

It was getting late, and they were all tired from the long day. The transit from Earth had taken roughly 15 hours, but they'd landed in the mid afternoon, local time, so most of them had been going for well over 24 hours by now. _Good practice I guess_ Shia thought to herself _Dad did tell me about those infamous 20 hour days... Not that this is N7, but still._ "Well, I think it's about time to hit the sack" She said eventually "I'm still on Earth-time, but I think I've suffered enough"  
"Sounds like a good idea, probably going to need it for tomorrow, my brother told me they make you run 'til you pass out on your second day" Mia replied, having warmed up to the other significantly during the evening. She tried hard to make her remark sound light and humorous, but some trepidation was still noticeable under there. Shia could spot it immediately, _Being an asari has its perks, at least sometimes_  
"That's not true" David retorted "Probably just trying to scare you. It's gonna be rough, sure, but it's still the Alliance, not a krogan right of passage"  
Mia shrugged "I probably wouldn't have the quad for it"  
The sudden and unexpected profanity coming from the timid girl made Aaki choke on her drink, sending a portion of it flying out her nostrils. Mia looked shocked, while Shia and David just stared at the scene for a moment before nearly falling over the backrest in a fit of laughter. Aaki tried to compose herself with little success, alternating between coughing and laughing. "It wasn't that funny" Mia tried once the group had settled down slightly, triggering another wave of laughter.

The routine in the barracks were odd, coming from civilian life. Everything was comfortable enough, if a bit more simple and rustic than in a normal home. The biggest difference was how everything was built to accommodate all inhabitants doing everything at once. Everything from the showers to the toilets could accommodate all fifty recruits at once, and the large spaces and crowds made one feel rather small. "Lights out in 10 minutes" a synthetic voice called over the PA system, and the recruits were all scrambling to finish their nightly routines. _Well, at least the showers aren't co-ed._ she thought as she dried herself with her towel and headed over to one of the many sinks to brush her teeth. Belonging to an monogendered species she didn't really care, but growing up around humans does rub off, and besides, men had always struck her as a bit more prone to stare blatantly.

It all felt strange somehow, yet completely natural at the same time, like she'd just come home after being gone for a very long time. It was mostly the uniformity that felt a bit off, everything was standard issue, from the toothbrush, the clothes and the bedding. She understood the need for it, coming from a military family, but it felt a bit weird never the less. At least they were allowed to keep their own omni-tools if they had one, for which they were grateful. Not that the Alliance issued ones were bad, they always kept up with the latest releases, _Can't really have them locking up in the middle of a battle_ , but she doubted they'd allow her the bandwidth to download 35.000 hours of music and almost as impressive a collection of vids to replace what she had in her own omni-tool.

"Lights out" the synthetic PA announced just as Shia slipped into her bunk. She was tired from the long day, but her mind was still racing and sleep refused to find her. After tossing and turning for what felt like an eternity, she finally slid quietly out from under the sheets. Praying the goddess that no one would notice, she quietly made her way out of the dorms and out onto the buildings walkway that faced the quad outside. The night was warm and pleasant, the slight chirping from some manner of insect permeating the air. She set her omni-tool to transmit to her auditory implants and queued some music. Earth jazz, her dads favorite. She brought up the image gallery on the small omni-screen and the latest picture taken popped up, her and her parents huddled together earlier that morning while she waited to board the transport. She glanced over at the skyline of Joughin in the distance as a lone saxophone wailed softly in her ears. She turned back to the picture of her and her parents with a smile, _I can do this. I'll make you proud, I promise._ She thought as she strolled back to her bunk and laid back down, and this time sleep took her almost instantly. 

Three months had past since they first touched down on Benning, and the first leg of their training was drawing to a close. The boot camp portion was by far the toughest, according to her dad at least, and Shia couldn't wait to get to the next part, on ship training. Less people, less dust and less mud, and hopefully less shouting too. Not that she disliked camp life, it was fun most of the time, and she'd really gotten to know some of the others, leaving them behind being one of the few things she was dreading about the upcoming graduation. _Maybe we'll end up on the same ship_ she thougt, trying to cheer herself up a bit _A few of us at least._ The week of shore leave coming up before she had to report to her new assignment wasn't bad either, not that she'd have time to make it back to Earth. _Maybe the Citadel, never had the chance to stroll around the place on my own_

The training had payed of, she could shoot as well as most people by now, and her pull was honed enough to snatch a pyjak from the mouth of a varren from 100 meters out, coupled with drilling endless tactical scenarios and combat tactics. Still, she still had to prove she could actually combine it all into something resembling a successfully executed maneuver. _Well, I guess I'm going to get my chance._

One week earlier:

Shia nervously brushed imagined creases from her uniform for the tenth time and glared at the door. She'd been called in to see the CO, the first time aunt Ashley had asked to speak with her since she arrived. She'd been hurt at first, but the understood the need for professionalism and protocol. When she thought about it, she was actually relieved, it gave her confidence beyond any doubt that she'd received no preferential treatment. The door opened and she snapped to attention, a pale man entered the room "The Captain will see you now" he said, motioning for her to follow. She walked past a modest desk and continued into the office beyond, the man closing the door behind her.

"Ma'am, Serviceman Shiala Shepard, reporting as ordered ma'am" she saluted.  
Ashley looked up from her desk, mildly amused by the sharp discipline "At ease, serviceman" she replied, Shia following suit, securing her hands behind her.  
"Serviceman, I've been going over your performance reviews. The instructors all concur that you show high aptitude for leadership. With this in mind, I'm assigning you as squad leader for Echo Four in the upcoming combat exercise"  
"Ma'am, yes ma'am" Shia replied sharply  
Ashley smiled warmly and walked up to the young asari, studying her for a moment and then gave her a hug "Relax, Shia" she said reassuringly. Shia nearly went limb as the tension quickly melted off her. "Take a seat, we have a few minutes to talk freely" Ashley said, moving back behind her desk.

"I really am impressed with how you've handled yourself here Shia"  
Shia exhaled slowly "Thanks aunt Ash... it's been pretty rough, I wasn't sure how to act when I saw you on day one"  
"I'm sorry we haven't been able to speak earlier, but I had to keep the same distance as I do with all other recruits"  
"I know" Shia replied warmly "To be honest, I was more worried that you'd be all chummy with me... I mean it's bad enou..." She stopped herself mid sentence, unsure if she should continue  
"What?"  
"I-It's just... it's hard enough being the daughter of Commander Shepard, you know?" Shia blurted out with more frustration than she intended to "The expectations, everyone thinking that I'm only her because of her good word"  
"Shia, no one thinks that" Ashley assured with a smile "Benning isn't exactly cream of the crop"  
"I know" Shia sighed "Dad told me the same thing. I guess I'm just imagining it."  
"You've _earned_ this Shia. I would never have issued the order otherwise" Ashley reassured her "And I've spoken with your parents, they couldn't be more proud of you. I know you won't be able to make it back to earth between assignments after graduation, but make sure you give them a call; they both miss you terribly"  
"I miss them too" Shia replied, her voice breaking slightly "I will auntie... I promise"  
"Good. Now, I do believe you have mission to plan for"  
"Yes ma'am" Shia said, as she saluted her aunt and headed for the door.  
"Oh, and Shia" Ashley said, locking eyes with Shia as she turned around to face her "Don't do it for them, or me, or the reputation. Do it for you"  
Shia lit up with a bright smile "Yes ma'am" and headed out the door

Cathoria Jungle, Benning, 8 days later:

Echo Four sat assembled in their shuttle, Shia looked over her squad. Aaki, David and Mia all glanced back at her, eagerness in their eyes. Luckily all the squad leaders had been allowed to pick their own teams. Unit cohesion, they called it.

"Ok, here's the sitrep" she called out over the hum of the engines "We're to locate, secure and hold an enemy communications tower five clicks south of the Kedra river and await instructions" She continued, pausing briefly "We ready for this?" She asked, trying to hide her apprehension  
"Sure are" Mia replied, with a confidence Shia would never had imagined three months earlier "We're with you all the way Shia"  
"Damn straight!" David joined in, followed by an enthusiastic nod from Aaki. Shias smile was as wide as ever, her green eyes filled with a new found love and respect for her friends  
"Ok, we're coming up on target, ETA 2 minutes, I want sound discipline until we've secured the LZ. Get ready!" They all readied their gear and readied themselves for the flying drop as the shuttle began it's descent. _Showtime_ Shia thought as the shuttle doors hissed upon, revealing the moonlit canopy in the tropical night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Shia gestured for her team to spread out in the small clearing as the shuttle quickly made its way back towards the staging area. She took in the scene, meticulous and thorough as her eyes wandered over bushes, the high grasses and the large ferns that spread like a thick blanket over the jungle floor. The air became quiet and peaceful as the sound of the shuttles engines died down in the distance, only the light breeze and the soft chirping of insects breaking the silence. The team slowly went over the perimeter, and one by one they gave her the sign of all clear. Satisfied, she called them over to her and brought up her omni-tool.

"Ok, let's do a rundown" she said softly, a few quick commands on the amber device bringing up a small map "Tower should be roughly 2 kilometers south of our position. We'll move single file, I take point and Dave, you shore up the rear. Mia, you cover the left flank. Aaki, you take the right." They all nodded in agreement.  
"Great" David said, coking his head back slightly "This mean we can talk now?"  
"Go ahead" Shia sighed  
"Good. It's fucking hot out here, seriously!" He exclaimed  
"Yes Dave, it's hot in the jungle. Any other bright observations?" Mia replied mockingly "You didn't seem to have a problem with it back at camp."  
"That was _dry_ heat, this place's so damp we might as well be going for a swim. It's like Kajhe out here!"  
"I think the hanar might disagree with you on that" Aaki teased  
"So, what? You hate water?" Shia joined in  
"I grew up on ships, nice and dry"  
"Yeah, and once we graduate basic you get to go back out there, along with the rest of us. So how about we focus on the mission?"  
"Fine, but if I get attacked by leeches it's on you"  
Shia chuckled at her friends antics and signaled the squad to move out.

\- - -

The group made their way south. They were making good time, the ground under the dense ferns was surprisingly clear, save a thick, wet coating of dead leaves. They moved quietly, infiltration style, low profile. Having been on the move for just over an hour, they started hearing the faint sound of gunfire in the distance. The exercise was obviously in full swing as the other teams made their advances. It was a coordinated attack procedure, their squad, Echo Four, being sent in as an infiltration unit to disable enemy communications. Shia thought it was fun, and fitting, never having developed her fathers affinity for going in guns blazing.

Shia actually liked guns. Going shooting with her dad had been one of her favorite pastimes growing up. Still, the sound of gunfire was disconcerting when not in a strictly controlled environment. This wasn't a live fire exercise, thank the goddess, but the simulation slugs still packed quite a punch. Not that one would be injured, but it was still something one liked to avoid if possible. She worriedly rubbed one of the contact simulators on her chestplate. _Best not to think about it. "If it can't kill you, don't fear it... better yet, fear nothing at all, it'll just makes you stupid", as grandma would say._

Making their way up a small rise, they noticed the foliage thicken steadily, and they now found themselves looking over a large clearing. The intended target towered high over the canopy by the treeline on the far side. Shia threw up a clenched fist, signaling her team to hold their positions. She was surprised at the light levels, the moonlight lit up the clearing quite well, the tower gleamed intensely in the light, giving of a bright silver sheen. _So much for the cover of darkness, or any cover for that matter. Unless we skirt arou..._ her thoughts were savagely interrupted by a sudden burst of gunfire coming from the opposing treeline by the tower. "Shit! We've been spotted. Cover, now! Suppressing fire!"

Shia was panicking. She wasn't afraid, well aware that the rounds being fired were harmless. But she was desperate to prove herself, and it would appear that her first stab at command wouldn't turn out so great. Now that their presence was known, advancing would be next to impossible. Even if they retreated now, there would probably be casualties, not to mention the objective being bust.

"Holy shit!" David chuckled as he ducked back behind cover after releasing a barrage of imaginary bullets across the clearing  
"What the hell do we do now?" Mia chimed in  
"I dunno, Idunno, let me think" Shia snapped back, obviously stressed  
"Better make it fast" David scoffed "They're going to flank us soon"

She thought back to her training, running scenarios in her head. None were any good, either loose the team or loose the objective, neither sat well with her. A good performance review meant a choice assignment, and she didn't much feel like serving the coming months guarding the hold on some freighter.

"Damnit!" She exclaimed as she struggled with her decision "There's no choice. Dave, Aaki, you hold this position and lay down covering fire. Me and Mia will flank left and try to skirt around them."  
"What?" David objected "There's no way we can hold them off for more than a couple of minutes"  
"I know, with a little luck that's all we'll need"  
"But this will fuck up our score! Badly!"  
"Hey!" she locked eyes with him "It's mission first. If we fail, the whole operation fails. I'm squad leader, whatever the outcome is, the consequences are mine" she surprised herself with the tone of her voice. Assertive, it had authority. David glanced at the ground for a moment, then met her gaze once more  
"Aye, aye"  
"Good. Mia, let's go"

They darted quickly behind dense bushes, the sound of the firefight taking place behind them ever present as they quietly but swiftly made their advance on the tower. Shia was annoyed, even a little bit pissed at the situation. _How's it fair to pit recruits with 3 months training against officers anyway?_ For a moment she wished that she'd never come here. She wanted to be back home, lounging on the couch, watching one of those old earth vids that her dad loved so much. It had been their thing for years, every Saturday, bad vids and Chinese take-out. _Nothing to prove... no risk of letting anyone down_ she thought. She tried to shrug it off, berating herself for complaining, _If it was easy it wouldn't be a challenge, now would it? Get your head in the game damnit, the worst that can happen is that you fail an exam! C'mon!_

They reached a large boulder perched at the base of the tower, both women struggling to control their heavy breathing from the fast pace. Shia gripped her M-5 tightly, peeking carefully towards the clearing. She could see five soldiers taking up defensive positions, they were all firmly engulfed in the battle, laying down heavy fire towards Davids and Aakis position. She spotted a team slowly flanking the position, moving in between burst of fire from their friendlies. _Textbook tactic_ she scoffed to herself.

"Mia" She hisses as she turned around, trying to draw her teammates attention, she jerked slightly when she found the deep blue eyes already firmly fixed on her.  
"Five, a few meters out from the ramp. Another two trying to flank Daves and Aakis position"  
"So what do we do?" Mia asked  
"Sneak attack, as long as they're focused on the others, we should be able to get past them undetected. Once we get up there, you set to work disabling the comms. You're ten times the tech I am. I'll cover you."  
Mia nodded "Sounds good"  
"Ok, let's go"

Shia looked out from cover one last time and then darted out towards the tower. It was no more than 40 meters away, but just as they started out, the gunfire fell silent. _Shit, they got them._ She felt a sudden urge to stop dead in her tracks, but she fought it and pressed on. _Halfway there_ She could hear Mias footsteps close behind her, glancing over into the clearing to see her enemies make their way towards her friends now silent position.

They reached the ramp undetected, slowing down to avoid making too much noise as they made their way up the sleek metal surface. _Why does everything have to resemble a tin can? Might as well start ringing a bell or somethin._ Shia took point, making her way carefully towards the control panel located on the far side of the structure. As she turned the corner of the walkway at the top of the ramp, she was met by a gritty and scratched chestplate and a pair of very startled brown eyes. Shia instinctively raised her sidearm and fired off two rounds at her enemy.

The armors contact simulators, detecting the point blank range, ignored it's programmed impact reduction that was to simulate shielding and promptly sent two lightly painful, but harmless shocks into the body of it's wearer. The man cringe slightly and looked up at his assailant. Shia almost burst out laughing as she met the gaze of her victim as she noticed it was Lt. Graham, normally the units communications and cryptography instructor. He gave her a sharp look, one that said, in no uncertain terms, _Was that double-tap_ really _necessary?_ She mouthed at quiet _sorry_ , turning around to face Mia just as she heard the first round being fired from the soldiers out in the clearing.

"Down!" she shouted as she pressed herself against the the solid railing of the walkway, suddenly quite grateful for it's bulky tin can design. They had obviously heard her shots, not surprising, but she was still caught off guard.

"Mia, get to the control panel! Go!"  
"Got it!"  
"I'll cover you, signal me when you're done"

Shia laid down fire, trying to buy her squadmate as much time as possible. Her cheeks flushed a deep purple hue, she was tired, nervous and warm, the sudden jerk out of the combat mentality caused by seeing the face of one of her teacher, only to be thrown right back in again had taken it's toll.

"Mia, status?" She cried into her headset, feeling that maintaining radio silence was rather redundant at this point.  
"Nearly there... just need a few more minutes" came the crackling response.  
"You don't have it. Get it done!" she could hear only static.  
"Mia!?"  
"There, got it!"

Shia sighed with relief, firing off a last burst at the approaching forces before reaching down to her belt and firing off a read flare to signal the friendly forces that the objective had been completed.

 _Just glad we don't have to worry about fighting our way out of here too_ She thought, just as Mia came up behind her and gave her a reassuring tap on the shoulder.  
"Hey, you alright?" She said, smiling warmly  
"Yeah, just a bit tucker out I guess" Shia chuckled  
"Uh huh, that was quite a run"  
"So Serviceman, was that double-tap really necessary?" Lt. Graham interrupted them, shooting Shia a stern face.  
"Sorry about that sir... just kinda... happened" She responded, slightly nervous as to where this was going. The Lieutenant eyed her for a moment before bursting out in a light laugh.  
"Don't worry about it. You kids did good"  
"Thank you sir... Lost half my squad though, probably shot our score to hell in the process"  
"I wouldn't worry about it, there's more to an operation than just numbers. Don't assume anything until after your debriefing"  
Shia nodded, not entirely convinced. "C'mon, let's gather everyone up, shuttle will be here soon" The Lieutenant continued, offering a hand to help her up.  
Shia took it gratefully, swinging to her feet  
"Aye, aye"

Shia had trouble focusing. Ashley Williams was in the front of the room giving a rundown of the exercise and it's execution, what went right and what went wrong. Shia was running a thousand different scenarios in her head, wondering what she should have done differently. _Could I have done anything differently?_  
She shrugged as she panned back in, catching the final part of the speech

"...ults of the final personal evaluation will be sent to your omni-tools at 1130 hours, along with your next assignment. Now, I know that you're all stressing about this, so to put your minds at ease, let me just say that _everyone_ in Echo Company passed the final examination. So, no need to fret. Look on the final evaluation more as feedback than anything else" An audible sigh of relief swept through the room "The commencement ceremony will be held on the main quad at 1500 hours. Have your gear packed, transports will be waiting to take you to either Arcturus Station or the Citadel, depending on your active ship placement." Ashley paused briefly to collect herself "On a personal note, I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you for your service. It's been a great honor to serve as your CO, and I wish you all the best for the future. Dismissed!"

The recruits filed out of the room slowly, many stopping to thank their commanding officer personally. Shia hung back a bit, waiting until the room was clear, save for herself and her aunt.

"Captain?" She began, sounding more insecure than she'd like  
"No need to stand on formality Shia, you're all but off duty anyway" Ashley smiled at her  
"I-I wanted to talk to you about the..." she paused, unsure whether to continue  
"About the mission?" Ashley filled in  
Shia nodded her response, locking eyes with Ashley  
"What about it? You went in, got the job done, saved the day" She said happily  
"It's just that I made a decision that I'm not so sure was right. At first I was worried about the score, but now it's more about... I don't know, about the Implications of it I guess?"  
"You mean that you lost people?"  
"I left half my squad out in the open as bait, so we could flank their position. I knew it would mess up the score but I did it anyway"  
Ashley smiled widely as she listened "Shia... I assigned you that particular objective for this exact reason. You did what was necessary to complete the mission, you put the mission first. That's what we wanted to see." She paused briefly "And about the score... I would have preferred that you waited for the evaluation, but you didn't mess it up. Your entire squad all ranked in the 90s."  
"What... but how? Why?"  
"It's not always about the numbers Shia. You ended up in a messy situation, you got out of it. Both you and your squad were willing to sacrifice to get the job done. That's worth something."

Ashley walked over to Shia, taking a seat beside her in the front row. After a moment of silence she continued "I'm going to tell you something that I've never told you before. Not because I'm ashamed of it, but because I didn't want to bore you with my old war stories"  
"You know I love your stories aunt Ash" Shia teased  
"Yeah yeah. Anyway, when I was just a little bit older than you, I got my first command. We were out in the ass-end of nowhere on a colony world" She paused, Shia could tell that she'd tensed up significantly "Then... We were attacked... I lost the entire unit. Backup arrived, and I ended up joining that outfit instead, set to hunt down the ones who attacked the colony." Ashleys mood was more somber now. Shia could detect sadness in her voice, but didn't interrupt.  
"We found them, eventually. We fought hard, and we believe we had them cornered when it all went south. We got stretched too thin, and the enemy armed a warhead. In the end, our Commander was forced to make a decision, to either save me or one of the other officers in the outfit who had gotten pinned while taking an enemy stronghold. In the end I lived... and he didn't.  
Shia stared at her aunt, unsure what to say  
"I know for a fact that this decision haunted the Commander... Still does, we speak of it from time to time. But I also know that she regrets nothing, a choice had to be made, it was either save one or save no one." Ashley paused, looking deep in Shias eyes  
"You have to be aware of the fact that hard choices might be required. Out in the field, you're not fighting for a score, you're fighting for your life. You learned that lesson last night, and we learned that you're capable of making difficult choices under stress"

Her smile had returned now, and she stood up and stretched her back, as if to let the bad energy and the difficult memories run off her.

"You did good, Shia. I couldn't be more proud of you." She said, embracing the young asari in a tight hug  
"Just promise me something" She continued  
"Ok... what?"  
"Never doubt yourself"  
Shia smiled and hugged her aunt again "I won't"

Shia tapped her omni-tool as she strapped herself to her seat, bringing up her evaluation and her new order again, while starting some music to drown out the hum of the engines firing up. She was excited, albeit a bit sad. None of her team were going to her destination, so she'd be starting from scratch in that department. Still, it was excited. She scrolled down, having no real need to review the evaluation after her talk with Ashley, she arrived at her active ship placement orders. _"Serviceman Shiala J. Shepard, you are requested and required to report to the SSV Narva, Ground Forces, Citadel"_ She could barely contain her excitement. If she was honest about herself she'd admit that she was probably equally excited about her week of shore leave and to visit the Citadel, as she was her new post. She hadn't been to the Citadel for 10 years, and last time she was there it still hadn't been completely rebuilt after the war. Besides, she had been 8 at the time, and she was sure the place was a lot more fun when you could party. She leaned back in her seat as the transport broke orbit, drifting of in her own thoughts as the engines shot the vessel towards the relay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The Citadel was even more breathtaking than she'd remembered. She was glued in front of the small window as the transport made its approach. Hundreds of ships arriving and departing, the buzzing wards stretching out in all directions, a never ending display of life in their numerous skycar lanes. _It's like a big anthill made of neon from up here._ She gasped slightly as they flew by a large ship, _Dreadnought class from the looks of it..._ she thought _Alliance markings._ For a moment she wished that she'd been assigned to a ship like that instead of a frigate, it was impressive, and they were the pride of the fleet after all. But something about serving on a ship with a crew the size of a small city was disconcerting. Besides, dreadnoughts never did anything fun anyway, they mostly just sat around guarding the Arcturus Stream.

The docks were full of life, people from every species in known space darting quickly to their destinations, military and civilians alike. She'd always liked spaceports, something about the energy of places like this made her happy. The air was always so full of expectation. She approached the security checkpoint where a small queue had formed, mostly Alliance personnel like herself, but at the front a large krogan who seemed none to happy to surrender his weapons. The drell C-Sec officer showed remarkable patience, and the krogan eventually realized that his threats of consuming people alive was falling on deaf ears and begrudgingly surrendered his impressive collection of firearms.

"Please submit a thumbprint for identification" the drell chimed, the deep sounds produced by his hyoid bone betraying his boredom with his assigned task. Shia could imagine that the arrivals desk would be one of the more tedious tasks a C-Sec officer could be asked to perform, certainly not the most dangerous and adventurous one, at any rate. She obediently placed her thumb on the scanner while handing her duffel bag over to the drells turian colleague for inspection.

The drell looked up from his screen "Shepard?"  
"Uh... yes?" She responds, visibly confused at his interest  
 _"I'm filled with anger. Father! Flashing lights dancing on the walls. A shot rings out, startled, a sharp pain across my face. My pistol falls to the floor"_ He mumbles, Shia can't quite make it out  
"What?" She ask, giving the drell a puzzled look  
"Oh, forgive me. Never mind, you can go on through now Private Shepard. Welcome to the Citadel."  
She nodded and collected her gear from the turian, glancing back as she headed through the scanner at the door. _Well, he's and odd one_

The wards were busier than she'd expected, making her way thought the throngs of people was almost exhausting, the translator working overtime to muddle through the barrage of conversation and yelling that filled her ears. She normally didn't have to rely on it, she spoke a few human languages, even though English was all you really needed these days, as well as standard Asari. But this was different. Volus, elcor, quarian and krogan merchants all competing for the attention of potential customers, mingling with advertisements in every language imaginable. She could even make out the artificial chirping of the occasional geth.

While overwhelming, she liked it. After all, this was the galaxy, this was what she came to see, to experience the marvel that was the galactic community for herself. Pushing away the urge to explore further, she finally acknowledged the rumbling in her belly and set out to find some food. The diet during basic had consisted of rations, a stride only occasionally broken by the brown goo the mess Sergeant had the audacity to call chili. _I've been to Texas, and whatever that stuff was, it wasn't chili._ She wouldn't wish three months of eating nothing but rations on her worst enemy, and well aware that the Narva would likely turn out to be equally limited, culinary wise, she was eager to get some actual food.

Luckily this part of the Wards wasn't lacking in restaurants, bars and food retailers. After sifting through the dextro-only places and the customary five ramen joints, all located within 100 meters of each other, she eventually found what she was looking for. Romanos Bar & Eatery was a small café type restaurant in classic Earth style, it even had wooden furniture and tablecloths. That was unusual these days, even back on Earth, and Shia found herself drawn to the place almost instinctively.

It was much quieter inside the restaurant, and she settled for a table at the far end, right by a window offering a staggering view of the ward stretching out in front of her, breaking sharply against the nebula in the background. She slumped down in the soft chair, suddenly realizing how tired she really was. She sighed contently as she reached for the menu propped up in the middle of the round table. _Paper..._ she thought, amused by the sight and the tactile feel of the material _Who_ _ **does**_ _this anymore?_ she chuckled as she studied the menu as the waitress, a young quarian, made her way to the table.

"Hello, my name's Jani'Nara and I'll be your server this evening. Have you decided what you'd like?" her voice was happy and giddy, almost overly so.  
Shia smiled at the enthusiastic quarian "Umh, I'm not really sure... Pizza I guess. What's the spiciest one you've got?"  
"Oh, that would be the Aralakh Pepperoni Combo, if you think you can handle it?" Jani quipped  
"Eye of wrath, eh? Sounds awesome. Better make it a double too."  
"Will do"  
"Aaand... Garlic bread, and lots and lots of beer. A lager, something light."  
"You want a whole pitcher?" Jani asked concerned  
Shia could only laugh at the startled eyes behind the glass "No, better not. Let's just start with a glass and work our way up from there."  
"Ok, I'll go put that in for you right now" She said, moving off with a light step.

The hours passed quickly as Shia ate, drank and enjoyed the view and the pleasant atmosphere of the restaurant. _It might not be a party_ she thought _but I'm relaxed, lightly intoxicated and well fed. Just going to chalk this up as a win anyway._  
"My shifts over in a few minutes, like me to get you anything else?" Jani asked as she approached her once again.  
"I'll have another" Shia replied, wiggling her nearly empty glass with a bright smile on her face "Name's Shiala by the way. Why don't you join me? The nebula wasn't as good a conversationalist as I thought. I'm buying."  
"T-that would be... fun, thank you" she responded, a bit hesitantly at first, but she soon regained her cheerful demeanor.

Jani returned with another beer for Shia, and a small sealed cup with a straw for herself "So, what did you get?" Shia asked, motioning to the small cup  
"Turian brandy. This place doesn't have much in the way of dextro products" She responded, guiding the straw to the intake port on her helmet.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. We could have gone somewhere else instead"  
"No, it's ok. This is my favorite drink anyway. Most quarian spirits are made from cacti, never much cared for them." She said, taking a big gulp from her drink, savoring the taste "Mm, I needed this. Long day, luckily it's my last too"  
"Really, you're quitting?" Shia asked "That's too bad, you're really good at it. I don't think I've ever had better service anywhere"  
"That's nice of you to say" Jani chuckled "But I was only doing this for some extra credits anyway, the Citadel is so expensive. I was taking a sabbatical from the university, but I got... called on to do some other stuff so I have to cut it short."  
"Called in to do what?"  
"Oh, I'm studying engineering and I got this research fellowship for experimental propulsion systems. Apparently the Conclave made some kind of exchange with the Systems Alliance, and now they need someone with experience to help them tune it for the shakedown run. So they called me."  
"You'll serve on an Alliance ship?"  
"Yes, in a way. Officially I'll serve as an engineer in the quarian navy, and I guess they're lending me to the humans for a while."  
Shia nodded, sipping her beer. She was impressed, doing advanced research and being sent as a specialist while still in school pointed to some serious talent.

"Speaking of the Alliance" Jani said, motioning to Shia "I don't think I've ever seen an asari in that uniform before"  
Shia nodded again "I don't think I'm the first, but it's not common."  
"How'd you end up joining?"  
"Well, I grew up on Earth. My father's human, she's in the Alliance, it made sense. That's the short version at least."  
Jani bobbed her head in recognition "Besides, non-humans are getting more and more common. Who knows, if you like it in the Alliance, maybe you could get one of these uniforms too."  
"I doubt the Alliance issues envirosuits. And blue's not really my color." she chuckled.  
"Yeah, I meant to ask about that. What's with the suit? I thought you guys didn't need them anymore?"  
"Well, we don't, not under the right conditions. It's fine on a ship, personal spaces and such. But out in public or on alien worlds, it's still a good idea to wear one. In a place like this there's just too much for our immune systems to handle, it can't keep up. On a ship it's different, you'll be sick for a few days, but you can adapt to it."  
"So, once you join your ship you'll just wear regular clothes?"  
Jani nodded again "Exactly. My uniform from the quarian navy arrived yesterday, I'm actually looking forward to wearing it. It's very... flattering. My mother pestered me over the extranet for a week about the measurements when I told her about the assignment."

Shia gave her a broad smile. _Oh, I bet it is._ she thought. Even though she couldn't see the quarians face clearly, her kind eyes, confidence and cheerful attitude made her very attractive in cute sort of way, and the curves of her figure weren't hard to look at either.

"So," Shia continued, pushing her thoughts aside "Which ship will you be serving on anyway? Must be something new if they're testing out a new drive core?"  
"No, they've actually re-purposed an old Normandy-class frigate, the Narva."  
Shia nearly choked on her beer "What? No way?"  
"What?" Jani replied, startled by the sudden outburst.  
"That's the ship I'm serving on! Or will serve on." she exclaimed.  
"Oh... wow." Jani replied, visibly shocked  
"Yeah... small station."  
"More like small galaxy."

They both shared a laugh over the improbability of the meeting. They spent a good few hours talking, about Earth, Rannoch, music, literature and ship design. Jani rambled on about the virtues of engineering and the latest omni-tool model, her gestures becoming ever more expressive as she drank her brandy, only stopping when Shias stifled laughter drew her attention to it. Having lost track of time, and finding out they had much in common, not realizing the restaurant had been closed for well over an hour, they were eventually ushered out by the human owner who, until then, had been observing the spectacle with an amused look. He showed them out and wished them a pleasant night, but not before thanking Jani for her services and assuring her that she'd always be welcomed back, should her engineering career prove unsatisfying.

The conversation still going, they walked with a slightly inebriated swirl to their steps. Reaching a transport pad they stopped and prepared to go their separate ways.

"Look. I had a really nice time tonight." Shia said while tapping in her order for a cab "We're not supposed to report to the ship for another six days... So if you want to, I don't know, meet up or something before then, just call me. I sent my contact to your omni-tool"  
"I'd like that" Jani responded with a smile "I have a lot to get done before then, but I'll try." She paused as she brought up her omni-tool, accepting the transfer "Otherwise, I'll just see you on the ship."  
Shia smiled broadly "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it"  
"Me too. It feels good to know I'll have at least one friend aboard... I was a bit nervous about that actually."  
"I know what you mean. But, well, you found one."

Shia awoke in her spartan motel room, still fully clothed and lying sideways on the bed. _I guess I was more tired than I thought..._ she thought _Or maybe more drunk than I thought_ groaning as her headache made itself known. She dragged herself to the small bathroom for a drink of water, smirking at the reflection in the mirror, she didn't look half as bad as she felt.

Walking back to her bed she brought up her omni-tool to access the extrannet, trying decide what to do that day, and looking for the nearest store that sold some form of painkillers. As she sat down, she couldn't help but smile a little. "Totally worth it though."

After a quick shower, taking some painkillers she bought from a seemingly very agitated salarain shopkeeper and having changed into her spare uniform, she felt like a new woman. After dropping the dirty set off at a cleaning facility she decided to take a stroll. The wards were still loud and buzzing, and while the meds dampened the pain, her head still felt heavy, so she opted to find a more quiet, and preferably less crowded area. After wandering for a while she found herself at the entrance to the Presidium.

The change in atmosphere was almost as breathtaking as the scenery itself. This was a part of the station that she'd visited with her parents as a child, but it still seemed different now. Arriving at a small plaza, she headed for a café at the corner and ordered a coffee, hoping to build up an appetite for breakfast. Closing her eyes to the artificial sunlight, she had almost dosed of in her chair when she was pulled back by a very familiar voice.

"The uniform looks good on you." the voice was soft and loving, yet radiated a stern confidence.  
Shia turned around sharply in her chair "Dad!?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sarah Shepard almost toppled over as she caught her daughter in her arms, in what could best be described as a combination of a hug and a krogan charge. It nearly knocked the wind out of her.

"Easy sweetie, easy! Damn, I knew I shouldn't have let you play with Grunt when you were little." She said with a laugh.

As they embraced, she could feel her daughter tense up and tremble ever so slightly, realizing that she was sobbing softly into her shoulder. Sarah just smiled, stroking Shias crest soothingly.

"I missed you, dad." she said after calming down a bit.  
"I know, sweetie. I missed you too." Sarah chuckled, kissing her forehead "Now come, let's sit down."  
Shia smiled and nodded, wiping a few visible tears from her eyes.

Taking up a seat opposite Shia, Sarah looked on her daughter with pride, a smirk across her face.  
"Sorry, I was just so shocked to see you... I didn't think I'd get the chance for another six months or so." Shia said after a taking a swig from her coffee.  
"No need to apologize, sweetie" Sarah replied "Going off on your own for the first time is always hard. I never told you this, but when I went to basic I was so homesick that I thought I'd cry my eyes out, I nearly got kicked out for hacking the comms and calling your grandmother my first night there."  
"Yeah, grandma told me that story" Shia chuckled.  
Sarah just shook her head and sighed "Of course she did." she scoffed. "Where are you staying?"  
"A motel down in Tayseri."  
"You could have called, I would have sent you the code for the apartment." Sarah offered with concern.  
"I know, but it was 4 am your time... and I wanted to be all independent I guess."  
"You can _always_ call home, you know that." Sarah reassured her.  
Shia smiled "I know."

Sarah ordered a coffee for herself and headed back to the table.  
"It really _does_ look good on you, the uniform. It suits you."  
"Thanks... it still feels a bit weird, you know? Not to mention being called by rank all the time."  
"That last one will take some getting used to. Just wait 'til after the promotions start coming in, then it's the same thing all over again."  
"I bet." Shia responded, absentmindedly stirring her coffee with a spoon.

Sarah studied her daughter for a moment.  
"Are you ok, sweetie? You seem a little down?"  
"No, I'm ok. Just a little tired. I had a... late night."  
"Ah. And this 'late night' came in a bottle I take it?" Sarah teased.  
"Well, I might have gotten a little bit intoxicated."  
"By which I assume you mean 'shit-faced'?"  
"I can say 'shit' around you now?" Shia teased, fully aware that her fathers attitude towards foul language was far more relaxed than her mothers.  
"Only when in uniform. Just don't tell your mother."  
"So is mom here too?" She asked hopefully at the mention of her.  
"Yeah, she had some things to take care of and a few meetings at the embassy. She'll join us later."  
"That's nice. Maybe I can keep from crying this time." Shia chuckled

"So, what prompted this bout with the bottle anyway? I thought you were done with alcohol after that party in Memorial Park three years ago." Sarah said with a smirk.  
"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"  
"Nope. You're lucky I managed to talk your mother out of moving us all to Thessia after that, something about human youths lacking moral fiber." Sarah said laughingly "So, what happened?"  
"Well, the waitress seemed really nice, and I was feeling a bit lonely so I asked her to join me. We had a great time, and I guess I just lost track of the time... and the number of drinks I'd had."

Shia spent a few minutes reiterating her encounter with Jani the night before.

"So I find out she's assigned to the same ship as me. I mean, what are the odds of that?" she exclaimed excitedly.  
"Probably very low." Sarah smirked "Well, she'll come in handy. Never had a ship run as smoothly as when I had a quarian engineer running things down in the bowels."  
"I don't know if she can measure up to aunt Tali, but she seems competent." Shia continued "I'm just glad I met someone nice on the ship. I was actually hoping she'd call."  
"You gave her your number?" Sarah inquired  
"Yeah... why?" Shia replied suspiciously.  
"Heh, that's my girl" Sarah smirked.  
"Dad!"  
"What? You think I can't tell. I may not be able to read minds like you and your mother, but I'm not completely clueless. I can tell you like her is all." she continued happily.  
"I'm not having this discussion. And we don't 'read minds' dad." Shia protested, rubbing her temples in feigned annoyance.  
"Alright" Sarah said laughingly "I'm not going to push it. I'm just happy to see you taking an interest."  
"Well... thank you."  
"Considering that hangover, I'm betting you haven't eaten anything?"  
"No, just coffee" Shia confessed.  
"Well then, how about some breakfast?"

The two Shepards leaned back in their chairs, bellies full. Shias hangover had left her during the meal and she felt a lot better. Seeing her dad put her at ease as well, she always had that effect on her. It was comforting to know that home wasn't far away, even out here. And the comms would no longer be restricted, so she would be able to call home from now on.

"You know..." Sarah began "It's Saturday."  
"Yeah?" Shia replied with anticipation.  
"So, you have any plans tonight?"  
"Not that I know of."  
"Good, then you should come to the apartment tonight." Sarah said with a mischievous smile.  
Shias eyes grew larger as she almost squealed "Vids and takeout?"  
"Vids and takeout." Sarah confirmed, catching her daughter as she leaped in for a hug.  
"Awesome" she chirped "I love you dad."  
"Love you too sweetie." Sarah replied, realizing how much she'd missed having her daughter around.

The Shepards apartment was located in a tall building in Zakera Ward. Liara liked it for the view, and Sarah liked the fact that it lay above the atmospheric shield, and as such reminded her a lot of the quarters on a ship. It wasn't exactly big place, but more than enough room for two people. And as they rarely stayed more than a few days at the time while visiting the station on official business, they never really felt the need for anything larger.

The room was dark, save for the large holoscreen that sent light flickering over the room and the two figures curled up on the large sofa. Shia had been quick to change out of her uniform, especially keen to put on one of her hoodies that her parents had been kind enough to bring with them, a long with some personal items. She was grateful, while she could only bring one footlocker aboard her new ship, it was still more than the contents of her duffel bag.

"Oh c'mon!" Shia shouted in between bites of her lo mein "How would that even work? Even if you _could_ create a stable artificial singularity, how would you keep it in place, let alone use it as an engine? 'Gravity drive', please!" she scoffed at the screen.  
"Give them a break" Sarah interjected "humans hadn't even developed fusion power when this was made. Besides, I say they get points for creativity."

A beep from the front door made them turn around, seeing Liara enter the room as the door hissed open.

"Mom!" Shia exclaimed as she ran up to greet her.  
"Hello, little wing." Liara replied as they embraced "It's good to see you again. We missed you."  
"I missed you too."  
Liara glanced over at the holoscreen "Goddess! Did that human just vomit his entrails?" she asked gasping.  
"He did what? Dad, wind it back." Shia quipped, returning to the sofa.  
Liara shook her head at the sight of her husband and daughter fully entranced by the vid "I still don't understand this fascination you two have with these kinds of vids. Vaenia I get, even Blasto at times... but this?"  
"It's... uncomplicated. A good way to relax." Shia replied, munching down the last of her food.

Joining them in front of the screen, but not in the least interested in the vid, Liara put her arm around her daughter.

"So, why didn't you call?" she asked in a feigned accusatory tone.  
"No comms allowed during basic, you know that. And I only arrived on the Citadel yesterday, and I had some stuff to do, so I didn't have the time right away."  
"Yes, stuff like courting quarian engineers with turian brandy" Sarah joined in teasingly.  
"Dad! Not this again" Shia protested.  
"Care to let me in on what 'this' is?" Liara asked with a smile.  
"I met one of my new crew mates, we had a drink. Dad seems to think I was trying to pick her up. Which. I. Was. Not." she replied, emphasizing the last part.  
"A bit defensive, isn't she love?" Liara teased, nudging Sarah on the shoulder.  
"Very."  
"I give up." Shia said with a sigh, returning her focus to the vid.

They spent the evening talking and laughing, Shia telling them everything that happened while she way away and asking about her friends back on Earth. They continued late into the night, and for a while Shia felt like she'd never left home. It was a warm feeling, safe and familiar, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Shia woke up to a clattering of pans from the small kitchen. She was still on the sofa in the living room, covered in a blanket and her head resting on a pillow that hadn't been there the night before. She smiled at the gesture, albeit a bit embarrassed. Looking over the backrest, she could see Sarah in the kitchen, struggling with the coffee pot.

"Morning." She said, stifling a yawn in the process.  
"Oh, morning. Sorry if I woke you up." Sarah replied, cupping the brown powder into the pan.  
"No, it's fine. Probably time to get up anyway... You make some for me too?"  
"Taken care of." Sarah quipped, causing Shia to smile.

She walked into the kitchen, grabbing the cup Sarah offered her and sat down on one of the bar stools by the small table.

"So where's mom?" She asked, taking a sip of the hot liquid.  
"She had an early meeting. Life of a diplomat, I guess." Sarah replied, blowing into her cup. "We're leaving this afternoon. I have to be back in Vancouver. I wish we could stay longer bur..."  
"It's ok dad. I'm glad you came, even if it's only for a short while" she interrupted with a smile.  
"You can stay here for the rest of your leave, of course. I sent the code to your omni-tool."  
"Thanks, it's sure beats the motel." she grinned.

They sat silently for a while, drinking their coffee and slowly waking up properly. "Shiala" Sarah said, breaking the silence "There's something we should talk about."  
Shia tensed up slightly, it was rare for her father to call her by her full name, there was a seriousness to her voice that was unusual for her father. "O-ok? What?" she asked carefully.

Sarah looked at her daughter intently but warmly before she spoke again. "I hope you know that I'm very proud of you" Sarah continued "But proud as I may be, I'm still worried about you. A part of me hoped that you would choose another path... although considering that your mother managed to get caught in with me despite being a researcher, I guess no path is completely safe" she paused briefly to take another sip from her coffee "I never told you this story before. Maybe you've read some version of it in a book somewhere. But as always, that's not the whole story."

She stopped to compose herself before continuing "When I was much younger, only a bit older than you are now, I had just been promoted to Lieutenant and I was on shore leave on Elysium. I felt like I didn't have a care in the world. I'd never seen any action, but I loved being in the military." she paused, drawing a deep breath "Then, the colony was attacked. We were all taken completely off guard. There was panic, chaos. When I saw the look of fear on those faces, civilians... children, something within me made me take action, I told myself that I would not let them die, not like that. So I took charge, I gathered up all the military personnel I could find, and some volunteers and we started setting up defensive positions."

Shia listened intently, she had heard this story before, from others, but never told like this. There was a sadness to her fathers voice, where she would have expected nothing but pride.

"We were still leading civilians to the shelters when the attack finally came" Sarah continued solemnly "We were holding our ground when I noticed a group of slavers trying to flank our positionn, threatening to cut off the evac-route to the shelter." Shia could see her father nearly tear up before she continued. "I ordered what was left of the squad, three servicemen in total, to secure the flank while I remained to hold off the advance... only one of those men survived." she sighed, setting her empty cup down in the table "I... I didn't expect to make it out of there alive. As I went through my last clip, I threw myself out of cover with my knife only to realize that the slavers were in retreat. Reinforcements arrived moments later... and it was over. Just like that."

Sarah was silent for a while, her eyes rested firmly on the glossy white surface before her "They called me a hero." she continued after a while without raising her gaze "They pinned medals on my chest and recommended me for the ICT program... but all I could think about were all the people I killed... and the people I ordered to their deaths."  
"Dad..." Shia began, taking her fathers hand in her own  
"What I'm saying is" Sarah continued, holding up her free hand to signal Shia to let her finish "Is that combat... killing... It scars you, Shia. It wounds you. Even when you make it out with just a few bruises, even when there was no other way. Even when they tell you you did the right thing, that you're a hero... even then, it stays with you... always."  
Sarah squeezed her daughters hand tightly, looking deep in the eyes that reminded her so much of herself "Just promise me that you'll be careful. And more than anything, promise me that no matter what you have to do... what you have to face, you don't let it change you."

Shia sensed that they were no longer talking about Elysium. She had never seen her father like this before.

"Dad..." she began in a soft, worried tone "After the war... how bad was it? How... how badly were you hurt?" She met Sarahs eyes, and she could see a quick flicker of fear and pain run through them. She left her chair and spun around the table, embracing her father. They held each other for a while, until Sarah broke the silence. Her voice was little more than a whisper. "Promise me, sweetie?"  
They looked at each other, Shia could see that familiar fire in her fathers eyes return, finally she said quietly "I promise, dad. I promise."

They spent the rest of the day talking on a lighter note. Taking a walk on the Presidium, Sarah shared stories about her adventures on the Citadel all those years ago when she was still a Commander. Shia had heard most of them before, but she always liked these stories. They were happy, hanar preachers and fans with boundary issues, the friendly bickering that aunt Tali and uncle Garrus would always get in to. She loved to hear about all of it, and luckily for her, her father loved telling it. After meeting up with Liara and sharing a meal, Shia walked her parents to the docks to see them off.

"Now, remember, call!" Liara said firmly but lovingly "And I mean any time"  
"I'll make that an order if I have to, Private." Sarah joined in.  
"Yes Admiral" Shia sighed with a smile on her face, moving on the hug her parents goodbye.

Shia stayed on the observation platform watching their transport depart. As she walked back to the apartment, she did so with renewed confidence. She was sad to say goodbye to her parents again so soon, but it wasn't half as bad as last time. And while she would still miss them, a lot, she felt ready to be on her own. Stopping briefly at another observation dock, she gazed out into the nebula that surrounded the station, and at the stars beyond. _I'm Alliance... and I'm ready._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Shia sat on the floor of the docking bay, resting her back against her duffel bag. It had grown considerably in size after she raided her parents apartment for anything belonging to her that she might want to take with her. In addition to some clothing, she'd also found a few books. She had to weed out most of them, books being heavy and bulky by nature, and in all honesty rather useless when you could fit a whole library in your omni-tool. Never the less, she'd always enjoyed the feel of one against her skin, the smell of chemically treated paper and ink. She'd eventually settled on the early 20th century edition of _The Divine Comedy_ that grandma Hannah had given her when she turned fifteen. It was a ragged old thing, bound in leather that was now worn and threading in some places, and the gold colored inlays of the title now tinted towards black.

Looking up, she studied the fine contours of the Narva outside the glass dome. _It's so sleek in it's design. There's something... predatory about it. A ship like this, she stalks her prey, hunts it rather than just attacking._ She thought it was elegant in a way, the melding of two schools of thought and design. The turian elements were clearly visible, but the form of the ship was still distinctly human. She was modeled on the Normandy SR-2, the ship her father commanded during the war. Years later, it was still the fastest and most effective stealth vessel in the fleet. _And it might get even faster._ she thought, pondering what kind of modifications it was that Jani were here the implement. She'd received a message from her new friend a few days ago. They hadn't had time to meet up again, Jani had been too busy pouring over manuals and schematics to prepare for the new assignment, and Shia decided not to push the issue. After all, there would be plenty of time, she'd been told there's a surprising amount of down-time on a ship running scouting and recon. Barring some kind of attack, it was pretty much like any other nine-to-five job out there. _Only, you know, with more guns._

She checked the time. She was early, she'd already been sitting in the bay for an hour or so, and there was still almost an hour left until she was to report for duty. The pad with her official transfer order rested in her lap, she glances over the words. _The marines... never thought I'd be volunteering to go crawling in the mud again._ she thought, smirking slightly. Had the thought crossed her mind the first week of basic, she'd probably had slapped herself. Her omni-tool beeped and drew her attention to a new message in her inbox, she brought up the small display.

 _From: David Stevenson  
Subject: Hey!_

 _Hey Blue, what's up? Hope you're settling in ok. What's this I hear about you gunning for the marines? Well, I guess it's "Private" Blue now then? Started my assignment yesterday. They put me on the Orizoba, can you believe that shit? From what I gather, we're not expected to leave Arcturus in like... ever? I applied for orbital operations, learning to pilot a Kodiak, and I guess I can do that here as well as anywhere. Haven't even gotten around to the simulators yet, they have me scanning cargo containers and adjusting bio-filters all day. Oh, and Mia's here with me, she says hi. We've set up a regular game of skyllian five, relieving the servicemen of their credits. They're not as easy a mark as you, of course, but I take what I can get. Anyway, I should get back to it. Take care, Blue, we'll see you out there._

 _\- Dave_

Shia laughed lightly as she read the message, David could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least he had the decency to make you laugh while he annoyed the crap out of you. _Never a dull moment with that guy._ Her stroll down memory lane was cut short by the chipper and slightly modulated voice of one very happy quarian.

Jani walked up to her with a lithe spring in her step. She'd changed suits since they last saw each other, the simpler khaki fabric with details of darker green of the quarian navy dress hugged her figure as she made her way up over Shia. In her usual cheerful demeanor she said "There you are!".  
As Shia rose from the floor to greet her, shaking of the staleness in her limbs, Jani greeted her with a hug.  
"I'm sorry I didn't have time to meet up again before today." she continued "The conclave sent me about a million schematics, along with an equal amount of regulations regarding conduct and diplomatic relations." her voice switching to one of general regret as she finished.  
Shia felt herself being caught slightly off guard by this unexpected act of affection. But at the same time it gave her a warm feeling, and she could feel her cheeks flush slightly. She was genuinely happy to see Jani again, more so than she expected. _How can I miss someone I hardly know?_ Granted they'd been messaging over the extranet for the past few days, since Jani didn't seem to have a problem with multitasking, but they'd met only once.  
"I hope you're not disappointed?" Janis voice, no slightly nervous, pulled her out of her train of thought once again, and she realized that she'd been quiet for longer than she thought.

"No, of course not" she managed, shaking her head "I know you've been busy."  
Jani rubbed her hands together nervously, with a relieved sigh she said "Good, I was getting worried there for a minute."  
"Besides" Shia continued "I had a visit from my parents, so I had plenty to do."

The last part was a lie of course, or at the very least an omission of facts, in reality she'd been doing very little since her parents left the station.

Jani put one of her small hands on Shias arm reassuringly, with a voice that betrayed the smile under the lightly opaque glass she said "Good. Keelah, I was afraid you might have been bored out of your mind. I felt bad I couldn't take you up on your offer." Shia met the bright eyes behind the glass, and she felt her cheeks flush once again.  
"So" she said quickly, shrugging it off "Excited to start the mission?"  
"Super excited! The Normandy-class ships are legendary, I can't wait to tinker with the core. I've never served on a ship before though... let alone a human one... so I guess I'm a bit nervous as well." she confessed.  
"I know what you mean, but I'm sure you'll get along fine with the crew." she reassured her. With a smile she continued "And if not, you have me." She froze slightly as she realized what she'd just said, but Jani squeezed her arm gently again and said in a voice softer than before "I do..."

Shia was awestruck by the buzz of activity in the CIC. Everyone seemed to be doing some kind of work, but she couldn't really discern any kind of pattern to what was going on. Behind her the helmsman, a female turian, was yelling something into the intercom, Shia didn't quite catch all of it, but the gist seemed to be that whoever was on the receiving end could kiss her dorsal plating. She'd expected to see turian crew members aboard ship, it was after all partly of turian design, but this one was sporting an Alliance uniform. She was aware that there were members of virtually every species serving in the Alliance these days, save for the hanar, but she'd never met a turian officer before. The Alliance didn't keep any public census data pertaining to species, so any official numbers were impossible to come by. Jani had headed straight for the engineering deck, but Shia, being Alliance, had to officially report in before she could do much else.

The turian officer, having stood up and exited the cockpit called out to her "Can I help you with something, love?"  
Shia immediately snapped to attention, but switched to an awkward ease when the turian waved the salute off with her hand. "Oh, well..." Shia fumbled as she spun around to face her.  
"You're the new recruit, right? I'm Flight-Lieutenant Cessia Vanntin. They call me Ces though, or chess in some cases, which is complete and utter bullshit since I don't even..." she paused abruptly, cocking her head to the side slightly "And I'm rambling again. Sorry, I tend to do that. Anyway, you were saying?"  
Shia had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. All the turians she'd met in her life had been calm and collected, Ces seemed to be the complete opposite. She seemed friendly though, and Shia wanted to make a good impression. She eventually managed to speak "Oh, hrm... Yes, I'm just transferring in. Private Shiala Shepard... they call me Shia though."  
Shia could see the Ces smirked slightly at the mention of her last name, but decided that she didn't want to drag any more attention too it.  
Ces extended her her hand to Shia and said warmly "Well in that case, welcome aboard. Can never have too many grunts around I guess."  
"Thank you, glad to be her Flight-Lieutenant."  
"It's just Ces. As for how I can help you, I think you want the XO, Commander Nielsen. He's down by the galaxy map, it's right in front of the elevator." she pointed down the narrow walkway into the CIC. Shia nodded and swung her bag back up on her shoulder and walked down towards it.

Commander Nielsen was a trimmed man of about thirty, clean shaven and short, stubby blonde hair. Shia rounded the corner of the holographic display as the Commander made his way down the stairs from the interface. He stopped in front of the messages terminal to greet her.

"Private Shiala Shepard, reporting for duty, sir." she said saluting, and using the most professional tone she could muster.  
The Commander returned the salute, and spoke sternly. "At ease, Private."  
Shia followed suit, promptly handing over the pad that contained her transfer order. Nielsen studied it briefly, more as a courtesy as he had already been informed.  
"Excellent" he said, extending his hand to greet her "I'm Commander Ian Nielsen, the Executive Officer. Welcome aboard"  
"Thank you, sir." Shia responded sternly, shaking the mans hand.  
"You'll be reporting directly to Gunnery-Chief Adams. I assume that you've been briefed on your duties, if not, chief Adams will fill you in." he put the pad down by the terminal "As for accommodations, you're assigned bunk 34B."  
"Yes sir"  
Nielsen studied her for a moment, before deciding to speak more candidly "You'll find that we run a fairly tight ship here, Private. But we're also quite informal, there's no need to run yourself ragged over the regs."  
"Yes sir!... Commander!" Shia stumbled  
Nielsen smiled faintly "Commander will do, Shepard." he said "I'll let you get settled in, stow away your gear and report to chief Adams. Dismissed."

Shia saluted the Commander once again, as she turned sharply towards the elevator. Entering it, she realized she'd neglected to ask _where_ to report to. As she was about to grab the krogan by the hump and go back and ask, the Commander called out from the console without turning around "Armory's in the shuttle bay, bottom level."  
Shia bit her lip slightly to stifle her embarrassment "Thank you, sir" she said, punching the correct button on the pad to her right.  
Commander Nielsen let out a soft chuckle as the elevator door closed "Kids..." he huffed to himself.

The day progressed in much the same way. Introductions, salutes, pats on the back. So far, the crew seemed quite friendly. Apart from herself, Jani and Ces; the crew was an all human one. Meaning that the marines were all human save for her. They'd welcomed her with open arms though, for which she was grateful, even though she suspected that her name had a lot to do with it. She didn't mind for once, it's not like anyone would believe she'd asked her father to pull some strings in order to get her to the rank of Private.

Gunnery-Chief Adams was a unique character in his own right. The man cursed worse than anyone she'd ever met, in a distinct British accent, and she'd been hard pressed to retain her composure when she first reported to him. He was friendly as the rest though, and insisted that there would be no _"Goddamn sir's in his unit!"_ , preferring instead to answer to _'Chief'_. She'd checked out her weapons and armor, and received her new set of patches. She let her fingertips wander over the raised dagger and lightning bolts, superimposed over the Alliance symbol, working her way over the the name patch, the words _'SSV Narva'_ written under the bolder _'Pvt. S. Shepard'_. She felt proud of them as if they were the Star of Terra, and she could hardly wait for the chance to sit down and sew them to her previously barren uniform. Having finally gone off duty after a long day, she strolled into the crew quarters and slumped down onto her bunk. Getting out some needle and thread, she set to work on the top of her uniform. _Wonder how Janis day went..._

 _TheBlues: Hey. You up?  
Nara86: Barely...  
TheBlues: Not feeling so hot?  
Nara86: No. Took off mask at beginning of shift. Sick.  
TheBlues: Hold on, I got just the thing._

She closed her omni-tool and headed for the mess hall. She'd found out that Jani had been given one of the cargo holds adjacent to engineering as private quarters. _I guess being liaison for your government has it's perks._ she snickered. Her mood was rather somber despite the little joke she told herself, something about Jani being in pain made her cringe a little, and she wanted to help... at least in some small way. She rummaged through the cupboards until she found a small box covered in alien script and a picture of a red fruit she'd never seen before. A small note written in English was glued to the box, that informed her that this was indeed tea, suitable for dextros, and that it was flavored with something called fire fruit. She took a bag out and stuck a cup of water into the heater. The tea didn't smell half bad, so she set out for the elevator and pushed the button for the engineering deck.

She paused in front of the door to the cargo hold. The holopad was green, but she decided after some contemplation to knock, just to be safe. _"Come in"_ came the faint reply from the other side of the door. Shia punched the holopad and entered the room. The space was dimly lit, there was a couch in front of her with a small table, a desk to the right of it and a bed at the far end. Jani was getting up from it as Shia entered the room.

"Jani don't get up, I brought you..." she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the quarian in front of her. She was draped in a blanket, having pulled it over her head like a cloak. A lock of hair, deep black in color had fallen over her cheek, the skin greyish with a tint of purple. Shia was drawn to the big eyes that now studied her, the irises were bright and seemed to glow in white silver from the reflected light. It was the most beautiful sight Shia had ever seen. She felt her heart swell as she took in the sight.

"Keelah, it's that bad?" Jani said, her voice weak as she shuddered a little from the fever.  
"N-no... not at all." Shia responded softly.  
They sat down on the couch and Shia handed Jani the cup of tea. The young quarian drank it slowly, but appeared to stop shivering after a while.

As she sat the empty cup down on the table, she curled up on the coach and put her head in Shias lap, hear head no longer covered by the large blanket she'd wrapped herself in. Shia felt her heart skip a beat, unsure of what to do.

"Jani..." she began after a while "It's pretty late... you should probably get some sleep." She said it without conviction. She didn't want to leave, she simply thought that it would be best. Jani turned her head en looked up at her.  
"Please don't go." she said in a soft, almost pleading tone.  
Shias heart skipped another beat as their eyes met. She pushed a lock of hair from her face and spoke with a whisper "Alright, I'll stay here... with you."  
As Shia stroked her hair soothingly, Jani slowly drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Shia woke up to a hissing sound, she was still sitting on the couch. She cocked her head a little to ease the stiffness in her neck. Jani was standing by her desk, no longer covered in her blanket, she had straightened her uniform out and pulled the light khaki veil over her head. She was rummaging through a small metal case, fiddling with a injector and a few small vials.

Looking up at Shia, her eyes seemingly glowed even brighter than they had the night before, a smile crept across her face as she spoke "Sorry if I woke you up."  
"It's alright." she said, leaning back again "Feeling any better?"  
"Much. I still have a little bit of a fever, but this should take care of it." Jani replied, wiggling the injector in her hand, bringing it up to her neck and letting the stream make its way into her system with a hiss.

Shia nodded, trying very hard to to avoid staring at Janis neckline as she pulled the edge of her veil aside for the injection, but failing spectacularly. The quarian had her completely mesmerized. She liked the feeling, but it scared her at the same time. This feeling was new to her, and she was unsure of how to deal with it. She'd had some experience on the subject, dated once or twice when she lived on Earth, but it had been nothing like this. Jani joined her once again, propping herself up cross-legged next to her. She glanced over Shia, her eyes landing on the small name patch on her chest.

"So, I wanted to ask you... and I understand if you don't want to discuss personal stuff, but..." she paused, realizing that she'd been rambling, taking a deep breath she continued "Your father... the human? She's _the_ Shepard, isn't she?"

Shia sighed, she knew that this would come up eventually. It always did. She was a little angry at herself for feeling that her name was a burden at times. Her father was a hero, there was no doubt about that, and she was very proud to be her daughter; but living in a shadow like that could be... taxing at times.

"Yes... she is." she said, finally, trying not to sound too uncomfortable about the subject.  
Jani studied her face intently before she spoke "Why didn't you tell me? Especially to a quarian, the _'oh, and by the way, my dad gave you back your homeworld'_ would be a good line." Her voice was back to its happy tone again, and Shia couldn't help but smile. She hadn't thought it possible, but it was even cuter without the slight modulation of the mask.  
"It's not something I like advertising... I want people to get to know me without having all those expectations." she said with a sincere tone "Don't get me wrong... I'm proud of her... but I want to make it on my own, not ride on her reputation."

Jani put a reassuring hand on Shias shoulder before she responded. "Keelah, I know what you mean. Well, maybe not exactly but..." she pondered her response for a moment before continuing "Do remember when we met, you know, at the restaurant?"  
Shia chuckled "Yeah, first half of the evening, anyway."  
Jani couldn't help but giggle herself, remembering the fact that they'd hardly been sober when they parted ways.  
Calming down, she put on a more serious face as she continued "I told you that I was taking some time off from my studies... Well, the truth is that I sort of, ran off."  
"Ran off?"  
Jani sighed "Yeah. See, ever since we got the homeworld back, most quarians haven't been to keen on leaving it." she rubbed her hands together nervously, and Shia could tell it wasn't an easy topic for her "I understand how they feel, it's not that. But I'm not like them, I grew up on Rannoch, and while I'm happy to have a home, I want to experience other things, too."  
"I can understand that" Shia said , taking Janis hand in her own. Jani smiled at her, clasping her fingers around it.  
"Keelah, when I was a kid I used to listen to the stories about people on their pilgrimage. I was so jealous, I wanted to go out there too" she continued "Even if the stories were sometimes scary. So, I decided to do it, I set out on an unofficial pilgrimage. Waiting tables wasn't exactly exciting, but the Citadel was a nice change of pace... And I met a lot of interesting people." as she said the last part, she gave Shias hand a gentle squeeze.

Shia felt her heart swell once again and she couldn't help but smile. "I'm guessing you're not the only one though? I saw quite a few quairans on the Citadel..."  
"No, you're right. It's actually quite common, it's become somewhat of a tradition but many older people dislike it, they don't think there's any reason to leave now that we have a planet again... My parents included. I think it's because my dads pilgrimage didn't turn out so well."  
Shias face contorted into a surprised look "Really? What happened?" she asked.  
"I think you actually know the story. He was on Freedoms Progress during the collector attack. Your dad saved his life, or so he tells it."  
Shia nodded "Yeah, I do know that story. Like you said, 'small galaxy'" she said with a smile "Though from how my dad tells that story, she insists that aunt Tali did most of the work on that one"  
"'Aunt' Tali?" Jani mused, sarcastically but lovingly.  
"Yeah, well, we're not related but..." Shia started before Janis laughter cut her off.  
"Keelah, Shia, is there anyone from the list of 'biggest names in the galaxy' you _don't_ know?"  
Shia blushed as she let out a soft chuckle "Well, I don't know a single salarian Dalatrass, so I guess that's something."

The marine contingent, five in total, sat assembled in the hangar. Shia leaning back against a large metal crate.

"Alright" Chief Adams grumbled as he entered the bay, slumped shoulders and a cup of coffee in hand, strolling to the front of group to address them "I'm not a mornin' person, so let's just get this over with" he said with a sigh.  
"We're headin' to Betan, just a routine policing job, nothin' fancy. We go down, two teams by two, show 'em we exist and then leave." he paused, gulping down the entire cup in one fell swoop "Oh yeah, that's the stuff..." he exclaimed, exhaling contently.  
One of the marines, Anna, butted in jeering "Damn Chief, never seen anyone enjoy their coffee as much as you do, you put whiskey in there or something? Because, you know, I could go for some..."  
"Laugh it up, Amherst, bet you won't be crackin' wise the next time you need me to pull your sorry ass out of the fire. Anyway, don't expect much trouble, but be on your guard all the same, this is the ass-end of nowhere, so even the human natives aren't what you'd call 'civilized'" he chuckled slightly as he continued "They probably won't shoot ya, but you never know."  
He pulled up a pad and scrolled through its contents briefly "Ok, as for the roster. Shepard" he said, using the pad to indicate Shia "since this will be your first, you're with me."  
Shia nodded "Got it, Chief."  
"Glad to hear it" he replied swiftly "Amherst, you're with Ortega. As for you Hendricks, you're the chauffeur for this evening... Ain't got one of 'em fancy hats for you, so just wear your beret or something."  
They all chuckled softly, Shia included, as they filed into the armory to gear up.

The Narva exited the relay, wasting no time as it's engines roared, pushing it towards its destination. The Skyllian Verge, while not on par with the Terminus as far as lawlessness went, had long been a grain the size of a small mountain in the eye of the Systems Alliance. The Batarian Hegemony, with its homeworld of Khar'shan all but obliterated during the war had left their colonies in the area to focus on rebuilding, leaving millions of surviving colonists to fend for themselves. With little state control remaining, the rise of supremacist extremism, and subsequent raids and attacks against human inhabitants of the region had increased rapidly in the years following the defeat of the Reapers.

"Entering standard orbit, Chief." Ces voice proclaimed over the intercom.  
"Understood" he responded bluntly before turning to the team "Ok you sorry bunch of miscreants, we move in five. So if anyone needs to go potty, now's the time."

Shia could see the elevator doors slide open as she was donning the final straps of her blue Alliance armor, Jani entering the hangar. She moved slowly, carefully as if she were afraid to break something. Shia secured the last strap and walked over to her.

"Hey, what brings you down here?" she asked, half concerned as to her careful behavior.  
"Oh, hey. I just... I heard you were going down to the surface. So, I just, came to wish you luck." she replied, shooting Shia a faint smile.  
"Yeah, first time out. Can't say I'm happy about being back in this thing though" she said, banging the chest plate of the armor with her fist, producing an odd clonking sound.  
Janis smile grew wider as she spoke "It looks good on you." her smile dipped as she continued "Do you think there's going to be fighting down there?" her voice more somber.

Shia looked at her for a moment. _She's worried about me?_ When she spoke, it was soft and reassuring "No, I don't think so. They say it's just a routine patrol mission. We go down there and just make our presence known before we head back."  
Janis smile returned as she listened to Shia, her words seemed to put her at ease "Good. Just... be careful." She said, stroking Shias arm over her armor. "I'll see you when you get back."  
Shia looked into her bright eyes once more, sending a chill down her spine as she nodded and slid out of Janis grip. As she headed for the shuttle, she glanced back over her shoulder to see Jani still standing there to see her off. Climbing into the Kodiak she sported a wide smile.  
Amherst nudged her on the shoulder "What's with the smile, Blue? Win the hanar lottery or something?"  
Shia shook her head softly before she responded "No... better than that."

The Kodiak cringed as it entered the upper atmosphere, it made Shia think back to the jumps in the transport on her way to basic training. She'd been worried then, not afraid but rather feeling exposed and vulnerable. Now she felt calm and collected, she was still exposed but she had faith in her fellow soldiers, and their ability to perform their duties. _I guess I did learn something after all_

"Chief!" Hendricks called out from the pilots seat "I can't raise New Berlin on the comm, transponder beacon's still online though."  
"Don't worry 'bout it" Adams replied, the weight of experience in his voice "Most of these colonies are runnin' on tech that predates the first contact war, breaks down more often than not."  
"Don't we need clearance?" Shia asked, raising her voice over the hum of the engine.  
"Eech!" Adams scoffed "We've got dockin' priority. Should be fine."  
"I've got the LZ in sight" Hendricks called out again "ETA 2 minutes."

The shuttle touched down a little rougher than Shia would have liked, and she soon found out that she wasn't alone as Adams grumbled "Dammit, Hendricks! Watch the paint-job!"  
As both teams exited the Kodiak, Hendricks cut the engines and the scene fell silent. The landing zone was deserted, and the whole settlement lay quiet, nothing but the chirping of birds and the sound of the light breeze breaking the silence.

"Is it supposed to be this quiet?" Shia asked, cocking her head to Adams "It's the middle of the day."  
The Chief glanced towards the settlement and responded without looking at her "Not usually..."  
"I don't like this." Amherst huffed behind them.

The four marines made their way down the ramp of the landing pad, stepping over scattered supplies and crates that seemed to have been thrown about in a fit of rage. As they made their way to the edge of the settlement, they came across something lying in the grass at the corner of a prefab housing module.  
Shia approached it slowly, only to recoil in disgust as she came up to it. It was a body, he lay staring up at the sky with open eyes, a large bullet wound to the forehead and what used to be the back of his skull scattered across the grass behind him. Shia was stunned for a moment. She'd never seen a dead person before, let alone someone who died violently. She was pulled out of her trance by Adams stern hand on her shoulder.

"No smell, no insects. Blood's barely dry. Happened less than an hour ago." he hissed with a clenched jaw he gently but firmly turned Shia away from the body as he turned to face the team. "Weapons at the ready!"  
The team promptly reached for their assault rifles, firmly secured on their back plates.  
Touching his finger to his ear to activate his communicator he spoke more calmly that Shia would have expected "Handricks, situation is hot. I repeat, situation is hot. Fall back to a safe location and keep the comms open, be ready for extraction."  
There was a brief silence before all the comms flared up, and they could hear Hendricks professional tone "Acknowledged."

"I _really_ don't like this" Amherst echoed.  
"Alright" Adams said quietly, letting his eyes wander across the entire team "We fan out, we secure the settlement and then try to find out just what in the hell happened here."  
The team all nodded in response.  
"Amherst, Yao, take the eastern perimeter. Go!"  
"Got it!" Amherst replied, tapping Yao on the back they headed out.  
"Shepard!" he hissed, grabbing her attention still frazzled from the sight of the body "On me! Keep close."  
Shia did her best to shake off the light shock and nodded sternly "Yes, sir." She confirmed, following close in Adams tracks as they headed into the settlement.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

New Berlin really was, as Adams had put it, 'out in the ass-end of nowhere', or at the very least it did all that it could to look the part. The settlements scattering of prefab units, stacked on top of one another, were arranged in such a convoluted way that it couldn't possibly have been completely random, yet it lacked any hint of order and the planning behind it was impossible to comprehend. Shia briefly entertained the idea that the whole thing could be considered and art installation, if it wasn't for the dead bodies and looming danger of an ambush. The units themselves were in varying stages of disrepair, some fairly new and still retaining their white finish, while others were tattered and overgrown with vegetation.

As they moved deeper into the settlement, the signs left from the fighting became ever more prominent as they entered areas where the citizens had apparently been able to mount some kind of defense. The air became thicker and hazed, the smoke from the small fires around them mixing with the smell of blood. It permeated the air and Shia cringed slightly, snorting in a vain attempt to shield herself from it. The sight of the bodies was less disturbing to her now, yet stepping over them she couldn't help but feeling strangely detached, like what she was doing was somehow wrong or immoral. _"Don't let it change you."_ She shrugged at the memory. _No, I still care._ she told herself, but she was also painfully aware of the need to focus on the task at hand. Stepping over yet another body, Adams signaled for them to stop. She took the time to look the body over; it was a young woman, not much older than her. Her eyes fixed on her once flowing blonde hair, now a tangle of dirt and brown blotches of coagulated blood. She checked the vital signs with a solemn sigh, fully aware that it would be in vain.

They were perched at the end of a narrow alley, propped up against a metal crate they scanned their surroundings. Her eyes went over the multitude of openings in the buildings down the barrel of her rifle, there were no signs of movement. Turning to Adams she whispered "Do you think they're still here?"  
Adams grumbled before he lowered his rifle slightly to respond "Aye. These bodies are still fresh, and we saw no ships in the area as we approached." he repositioned himself and raised his rifle. When he spoke again, his voice had an eerie calm to it "They're still 'ere, waitin', I'd stake my life on-" He stopped abruptly, and Shia could see his body tense before the ground beside her exploded in a cloud of dust, the loud noise of a weapons discharge following in it's wake.

Shia acted instinctively. Throwing her left hand up, the blue hue of her biotics flared brightly as the barrier engulfed them, deflecting some of the fire. "Shit!" Adams roared as he rose from cover momentarily, sending a barrage of bullets flying down the alley at their assailants. As he ducked back into cover, he raised his hand to the comm "Amherst, enemy presence confirmed, heavy interdiction. Converge on our location, over!" he yelled over the gunfire, rising quickly to deliver another volley. "God dammit!" he roared at the static in his ear when no reply came from the other team.  
Shia, feeling the fatigue already setting in, glanced over at him and shouted "Sir, I can't keep the barrier up much longer!"  
Looking down the way they came, realizing that any retreat would leave them exposed, he collected himself and said sternly "Alright... we have to spread out. When there's a break in their fire, you head for that prefab." he motioned his head to a portal to their left. "I'll cover you."  
Shia nodded in response, listening carefully for the break. When it came, the muscles in her legs were already tensing up as the call from Adams came "Go!"  
She let the barrier dissipate, gripping her assault rifle tightly she sprinted for the opening in the wall opposite. She heard Adams fire as the doorway drew closer, throwing herself through it, she felt the projectiles once again flying their way. She fell back against the cold metal wall, resting her head against it briefly as she caught her breath.

Propping herself up against the doorway, she leaned out ignoring the tiredness of her arms after holding the barrier. For the first time she could see the enemy; there appeared to be four of them, slowly advancing up the alley. Taking aim, she caught one of them in her sight. _Batarians..._ Time seemed to slow down as she applied pressure to the trigger, she hesitated briefly, feeling as if his four eyes were looking right at her, before she pulled the trigger fully and fired. As the batarian fell in front of her, she returned to cover, throwing her head back as she exhaled. Looking over at Adams, she held up three fingers towards him, receiving a nod of understanding from the human.

As Adams took down another attacker, the two remaining batarians halted their advance and ducked for cover. Deciding not the waste the opportunity, he secured his assault rifle, exchanging it for a short, stubby shotgun. He motioned for Shia to cover him as he took up an advance position. She nodded, firing down the alley to keep the batarians hold up as Adams crept closer. In an explosive move that caught both Shia, and obviously the batarians off guard, Adams burst out towards their cover, and with a gut-wrenching roar proceeded to plant the barrel of the shotgun to the chest plate of the enemy closest to him. Their eyes met, the batarian giving him an expression of utter disbelief before he was thrown back by the blast of the powerful weapon. As the last of them swung around to face Adams, he was quickly dropped to his knees by a well placed shot from Shia. Adams stared at the last batarian to fall for a moment, then cocked his head in Shias direction, throwing her an appreciative nod as she walked towards him. _How 'bout that? Kid did alright..._ he thought, bringing up the comm once again.

Walking towards Adams, Shia glanced over at her fallen enemies, feeling conflicted. She was proud that she'd handled herself well, but there was something definitive about it as well, as if something had changed within her. _I've killed... taken life._ She shrugged it off. She was a soldier, she knew it would probably come to this, but now that it had she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Reaching Adams, he could hear him trying to reach the other team over the com.

"Amherst, sitrep! Over!" he called out, his voice demanding. At first there was nothing but static, but after a moment a voice seemed to cut in intermittently. "Amherst, report." he tried again.  
"Encounter... heavy resistan... Pulling back... LZ" a woman's voice yelled, heavily distorted by static. Adams brow contorted into a deep frown as he spoke "Understood."  
He turned to Shia as he equipped his assault rifle again. "You get all that Shepard?"  
"Yes sir" she replied with a firm nod.  
"Good. We're headin' back. Watch your six and check the flan-"

Adams was cut of as another burst of fired erupted from the alley. Shia threw herself into cover. Glancing out, she couldn't see anything. _Shit! Where's it coming from?_ She ducked as another barrage hit the crate. The she saw it, movement on the third level of the building in front of her.  
 _No way I'm getting a shot in_ she thought, her mind racing to figure out her next move. As the shooter shifted positions, it dawned on her. As her biotics flared up, she rose and in once swift motion, she locked him in a field and yanked him forward. He stumbled uncontrollably towards the edge, and with a low growl finally fell towards the ground below. Shia turned away from the sight, closing her eyes for good measure, and as she heard the low thud of flesh impacting the solid ground behind her, a chill ran down her spine.

The alley fell silent, eerily so, and she opened her eyes to locate Adams. Looking around, confused at his absence she took at step forward; then she saw him. Chief Adams was lying motionless on the ground. "Chief!" she yelled, running up to him and falling to her knees at his side. In a fit of panic, she checked his vital signs, a sigh of relief escaped her as she felt breathing and managed to register a heartbeat. Looking him over, she froze, seeing the large wound at the side of his forehead. _No. No. No. No_ "Stay with me, Chief!" she cried out as she activated her comm "Amherst, come int!". There was no response. "Dammit... Hang in there Chief... we're getting out of here."

She grabbed Adams by the arm, pulling his body over her shoulders to carry him. The task was arduous, the weight of the man making her stumble, very nearly making him slip out of her grip. After a good few minutes she finally managed to get to her feet, distributing the weight properly she was able to move forward, albeit slowly. Making her way towards the landing zone, she felt the fatigue raging in her body. The stress of the battle, the use of her biotics and the weight of the Chief had drained her almost completely. As she approached to LZ, she heard the sound of gunfire, a lot of it. She swallowed hard as she did her best to pick up the pace.

The ramp in sight, she could see Amherst and Yao engaging at least a dozen batarians on the left flank, the shuttle hovering behind them. The sound of the battle and the roar of the shuttles engines was deafening as she made it up the ramp. As she reached the top, she felt a sharp pain in her right leg. She roared in defiance as she felt the legs strength give in. She stumbled the last couple of meters towards the shuttle, using her last bit of energy to hoist Adams to the ground before collapsing. She could hear shouting, echoing as her vision began to blur, felt someone drag her on her feet, the pain in her leg nearly knocking her out as she put weight her on it. There was and arm around her and she was lead into the shuttle. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was Amherst frantic voice "...copy. We need a med-team in the hangar, two injured."

Shia woke up to a bright white light, a deep pounding in her head. She groaned, closing her eyes and tried to turn away from the light, only to be reminded of the sharp pain in her leg. She spent a moment trying to decide which of the two was worse, before forcing herself to open her eyes. Her vision focused after a moment and she looked around, realizing she was on a cot in the medical bay. She propped herself up on her elbow, and with a strained motion continuing up to a sitting position. Pulling her legs off the table made her hiss loudly as the blood rushed to the damaged area. This caught the attention of the doctor who strolled over to her quickly, putting her hand on her forehead and pushing her back down on the bed before she spoke in a soft voice "Easy there, Private. I'm doctor Sidorova. How are you feeling?"  
Shia blinked a few times, deciding that it was probably best not to argue. "Hell of a headache... and the leg..." she said at last, creaking her neck slightly.  
"Ah yes. Seems they were using pullonium rounds, you're running a light fever and there was a shock to your system from the toxin. I gave you a few injections just a moment ago, they should be taking effect soon." she paused to do a quick scan with her omni-tool before continuing. "As for the leg, it should heal up nicely. There was some nerve damage, so I'll be placing you on medical leave for a week. I'll discharge you as soon as you're feeling up to it."

Shia glanced to her side, seeing the sleeping form of Chief Adams lying in the bed next to her, tubes attached to his body. She gave the doctor a worried look. "How is he, doc?"  
The doctor frowned, looking towards Adams before answering. "I've managed to stabilize his condition, but he needs neurosurgery. We're en-route to Arcturus Station now... but I think he'll recover." Shia nodded as she gave out sigh of relief.

The two women were interrupted by the door hissing open, with Commander Nielsen entering the room.  
"Ah, Commander." the doctor chimed "What can I do for you?"  
"Doctor" Nielsen responded "I'd like a word with the patient, if I may?"  
"Oh, by all means, I was about to discharge her anyway." she responded, walking off to her console at the far end of the room.

Nielsen walked up to Shia cot, and she gave an awkward salute from her lying position. The commander smiled and held up a hand "At ease, Shepard."  
Shia slumped back again, her eyes resting firmly on the Commanders face. Her hands fidgeting slightly "Sir... About Gunnery-Chief Adams, I-"  
Nielsen held up a hand again, motioning for her to stop. "That's what I came her to talk to you about." he said warmly. After a moment of contemplation, looking over his long time shipmate he continued "Hell of a thing you did down there, Shepard. Saved the mans life, without a doubt."  
Shia looked over at Adams again before returning her gaze to the Commander. "I hope so, sir." she said worriedly.  
Nielsen caught on quickly, seeing the concern in her eyes. "Chief's a fighter. Don't worry about him" he said "I actually came to discuss your performance specifically. That was one hell of a display for a first mission. I'm entering a commendation into your record, and promoting you to the rank of Corporal."  
Shia was stunned and at a loss for words. She hadn't expected to be yelled at at anything. But a promotion, after her first mission? She stumbled as she spoke "Well I-I... Thank you, sir."  
Nielsen smiled again, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Well deserved, Shepard." he said "Now, rest up and get well. I'm sure we'll need you up and running soon."  
Shia managed a weak smile "Will do, sir" she replied.

Exiting the medical bay she headed for the crew quarters. Hopping on her crutch and looking intently at the floor, she didn't see Jani sitting right outside. "Shia!" she nearly shouted, flying to her feet instantly and into Shias arms.  
Shia let out a laugh as she almost fell backwards, dropping the crutch to the floor "Whoa, Injured woman here-" She was cut off by Jani pressing her lips to hers in a deep kiss. At first she was startled, but she soon melted into it and returned it eagerly. When they finally parted, she stared at Jani for a moment before speaking. "Umh... wow." she managed finally as she met her glowing eyes, she could see tears threatening to protrude behind them.  
"Something wrong?" she asked.  
Jani simply embraced her tightly, her chin resting on top of the quarian woman's head.  
"When I heard you were... hurt." she said, speaking thickly into Shias shoulder "I was just so worried."  
Shia smiled and stroked the back of her head soothingly, realizing no words needed to be spoken.

They walked and hobbled over to the lounge to find a more private place. After Shia retrieved a soda from the small fridge, they sat down next to each other in one of the couches. Jani rested her head on Shias shoulder and sighed contentedly.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you how I felt about you." Shia chuckled in between sips from her beverage.  
"You should have." Jani replied teasingly, nuzzling her shoulder.  
"Yeah... I guess I should have." she said, tilting her head and resting it against hers.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Doctor Erin Sidorova strolled onto the bridge casually, placing her hands on the back of the pilots seat and leaning restlessly towards it. Looking down at the turian woman at the helm, she frowned as she spoke in an exaggerated whiny tone. "Are we there yet?"  
Ces turned her head, looking up at the doctor in disbelief. "Wha- I announced our ETA less than five minutes ago, Doc!" she exclaimed, pointing her talons at the window as she continued "Also, you can clearly see the station! You know, sometimes I worry about you."  
Erin sighed deeply, having failed once again to illicit laughter from her turian friend. She'd succeeded on occasion, but it was rare. "Yes, _I'm_ the weird one." she scoffed "You know, for someone serving in the Alliance and having dealt with humans for twenty years, you don't exactly have a good grasp of our humor."  
"Maybe you just need better jokes." Ces retorted "And don't even get me started on those colorful expressions of yours. I mean, what's wrong with just saying what you mean?"  
"It's called culture, Ces." Erin said with a sigh.  
"Ah, yes, because expressions like 'up shits creek' are _real_ cultural." Ces huffed, throwing her talons up and drawing quotation marks in the air in front of her.  
"You do realize how ridiculous it looks when people with three digits do air quotes, right?"  
"Hey, that's racist!" Ces exclaimed mockingly.  
"Yep, a little bit." Erin chuckled, and she could hear the faint subharmonic trembling of a soft laughter from Ces. "And with that, I declare victory." she said triumphantly, patting the helmsman on the shoulder.

They were interrupted by the voice of a man coming in over the comm. "Arcturus Control to SSV Narva, confirm ident and specify approach."  
Ces cleared her throat and tapped her communicator "Roger that Arcturus Control, SSV Narva transmitting verification. Requesting medevac docking priority, we have wounded."  
The comm was silent for a moment before the mans voice returned. "Confirmed, Narva. Proceed to bay Alpha-7. Patching you to medical." The comm hissed briefly, followed by a set of tones and beeps before the voice of a woman filled it, requesting the identity of the patient, as well as his present condition.

Erin supplied it diligently, feeling a deep frown forming on her face she was glad the transmission was audio only. Having finally finished the procedure, both women groaned loudly as the comm fell silent. Docking was always stringent and formal, but Arcturus Station took the proverbial cake when it came to having a stick up their ass about protocol and regulations. Erin had always hated red tape, and the red tape of medicine in particular, it left her mouth feeling as dry as Rakhana and krogan or not, gave her an intense urge to headbutt something. "Well, I'll prep the Chief for the transfer." She said after a long moment of silence. "Send the team down as soon as they've boarded."

The civilian sector of Arcturus Station reminded her a lot of the Wards on the Citadel, only with less diversity. It was quite a bit smaller of course and the technology wasn't as impressive, but it still gave her the same feeling of amazement.  
"I've never seen so many humans in one place before." Jani gasped, and despite the helmet Shia could tell that she had that cute bewildered expression on her face, a mixture of apprehension and overwhelming curiosity.  
"Well, it's the capital of the Systems Alliance after all" she replied with a smile.  
"I thought Earth was the capital?"  
"Well, it is, just a figure of speech. And if you're shocked at the amount of humans here, you should see Earth. It's pretty crowded."  
Janie reached out for Shias hand before she responded. "I'd like that."  
Shias smile grew wider as she turned to face Jani. "Well, I've only got about two more months on the Narva. I would love to take you there."  
Janis eyes grew wide with excitement behind her visor "Really?"  
"Hell yeah!" Shia exclaimed with a laugh. "Have to show my girlfriend where I grew up, after all." _Girlfriend..._ Shia hadn't used the word before, but it felt good.  
Jani let out a light squeal as she jumped up and hugged her tightly. "Still walking with a crutch here." Shia said with a laugh, and Jani pushed herself away at arms length again, her hands fidgeting slightly. "Right, sorry." she said, appearing mildly concerned before she turned her eyes back to Shia. "Wait... I thought you had to serve for longer than that?"  
Shia sighed. "Yeah, I thought so too. But I got a message from the Officer Candidate School in Vancouver saying I've been granted an early admission." the pale spots above her eyes formed into a frown. "I was going to make a call to check it out actually."

Shia pressed her palm against the holopanel in the QEC booth, an artificial voice greeted her. "Identity confirmed. Welcome, Corporal Shepard. Please enter your call-code on the interface in front of you."  
"Yeah, yeah..." she muttered as she punched the numbers in. _What time is it there now, anyway? 11 pm? Should still be awake..._ Her thoughts were interrupted as Liara appeared on the screen in front of her.

"Shiala, it's wonderful to see you. I was wondering when we'd hear from you." she exclaimed, beaming a bright smile at her.  
"Hey mom." Shia replied brightly. "How are you guys?"  
"Never mind us, how are _you_ doing? I heard your ship was involved in some kind of skirmish?" her smile did not manage to hide the concern in her voice.  
"You know about that?" Shia asked, slightly confused.  
"You're father's an Admiral after all. She won't tell me any details though, says I worry too much... I could find out for myself-"  
"Mom, please..." Shia interrupted her mother. "It was nothing serious. I'm fine, you don't have to worry."  
"It comes with the job, little wing."  
Shia chuckled. "I know, mom. But really, I'm fine. I just had something I needed to talk about with dad, is she home?"  
"Sure" Liara replied, visibly disappointed that the conversation would be a short one. "I'll go get her. I love you."  
"Love you too, mom" Shia smiled as she watched her mother walk out of view. She was replaced almost immediately by her father, who had obviously been standing nearby waiting.

"Hey sweetie." Sarah said merrily, turning her head to the right briefly, making sure she was alone. "So, how are you, really?" She gave Shia a piercing look, and she realized that her father probably knew the whole story already.  
"Well, aside from the hole in my leg, I'm good." Shia said with a laugh, waving her crutch in front of the screen briefly.  
Sarah nodded understandingly before she spoke "Something's definitely brewing in the Verge. Can't say I'm happy about you patrolling the area, but I promised not to interfere."

Shia bit her lower lip, careful not to sound too demanding. "Yeah, that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about... I got a message from OCS in Vancouver saying I'd been granted an early admission, cutting my field service in half."  
"Really? That's great sweetie. Making officer in record time I see." Sarah beamed at her daughter.  
"Dad..."  
"Don't give me that look. I had nothing to do with it."  
"So why did I get it then?"  
"It didn't occur to you that you might just have earned it? That you might just be that good?" she said, bringing up her omni-tool and holding up a hand before Shia could interrupt. "File says the admission was granted on behest of Commander Nielsen. Seems you single-handedly saved a superior officer by carrying him to safety while under heavy fire, sustaining injury in the process." A proud smirk crept across Sarahs face.

Shia was at a loss for words. "H-he recommended me?" She managed after a while.  
"He did, and I can certainly understand why... I'm proud of you sweetie, you deserve this." Sarah replied, her face beaming with pride.  
"Thanks dad... It's just... I don't know-"  
"You're worried you might not be up to it, now that you've seen action?"  
Shia smiled, her father had always been able to read her way too easily for her comfort, but sometimes it was nice to not have to use words. "Yeah, I mean I don't regret what I did... but I guess a part of me feels that I should."  
Sarah was silent for a moment, exhaling softly before she spoke. "Shia, having to use deadly force will never be easy. But deep down inside, you realize that you did what you had to do. What makes a good soldier is the ability to do what needs to be done, but always considering it to be a last resort. You clearly realize this." She paused again, locking eyes with her daughter before continuing. "You'll do great, I know you will."  
Shia simply nodded, a smile on her face.  
"Now." Sarah continued with a smirk. "You have some shore leave to enjoy, and I bet there's a certain quarian who's waiting for you."  
"Yeah... you were right about that too." Shia said with a laugh.  
"So, I take it you're seeing each other now?"  
Shia looked down slightly, unable to keep from blushing. "Yeah..."  
"Good" Sarah said ponderously. "If there's one thing I've learned it's that life's too short to delay your own happiness... no matter how long your lifespan might be."  
Shia lifted her gaze to face her father once more, nodding in response.  
"I'm happy for you, sweetie. Now go. I hope the leg starts feeling better."  
"Thanks dad, I'll call again soon."  
Sarah smiled widely. "You better. Love you."  
"Love you too, dad. Bye."

The screen flickered out and Shia sighed deeply. Talking to her father always seemed to put things into perspective. Only a few years earlier, the fact that she seemed to always be right about everything had driven Shia mad. She had even resented her for it, maybe not earnestly but the feeling had been there all the same. It was something she would always regret, even though her mother insisted that it was all part of growing up. She smiled at the memory, not because they were happy ones, but because of how lucky she felt to have her parents, even if she hadn't realized it at the time. She logged out and exited the booth as the artificial voice wished her a pleasant afternoon.

The walkway was still buzzing with movement, and Shia looked around for a moment to locate Jani in the crowd. She saw her standing by one of the large windows, listening to an older human man playing some kind of instrument, from the sound of it Shia guessed it was a cello. The low, somber notes filled her ears as she approached, mingling with the form of her lover in front of her. She walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder gently to let her know she was there, but without startling her. "Enjoying yourself?"  
"It's beautiful." Jani replied quietly.  
"Yeah... it is."

"So, how did it go?" Jani asked when the music stopped.  
"It went well..." Shia said with a smile "We should go find some accommodation. The ships being overhauled tonight, so we won't be able to get much sleep on board."  
Jani nodded, and Shia noticed that she was fidgeting with her hands like she always did when she was nervous about something. "I was thinking..." she said finally "That maybe we should get a room... you know, t-together?" The way she said it made it sound like a question, and she looked up at Shia insecurely as if apprehensive about the answer.  
Shia took her both of her hands and steadied them before she spoke. "If you want to, then I do too... but I've never..."  
"No, me neither... but we don't have too. And if we do, then I'm happy it's you." Jani replied warmly.

The hotel room was very spartan in its design, but it was large enough to breathe and the bed seemed comfortable, and was of a decent size. They stood in the middle of the room, arms around each other as if dancing without the aid of music.

"When did you know?" Jani asked softly, raising her head so that the shining silver white of her eyes met the emerald hue of Shias.  
"You know that first night on the Narva, when I brought you the tea?" She asked, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.  
"Yes, I was sick and looked like a mess." Jani giggled into her chest.  
"I'd never seen anything more beautiful in my life... granted, I haven't lived long, but I doubt I ever will."

Jani cupped her cheek in her hand and brought their faces together. They kissed deeply, and Shia felt a warmth rising in her body, a faint blue hue starting to ripple over her skin. She gasped faintly as her uniform slipped off. They embraced tightly, lips locked as they stumbled backwards onto the bed. All the insecurity and apprehension melted off them as the outside world and its troubles faded mercifully from their minds. They caressed each other softly at first, but with growing intensity. "Keelah..." Jani gasped softly as Shias hands swept over the curvature of her lower back. The blue hue flickering from Shias skin intensified as her eyes flared dark, and in an instant they ceased to be separate beings. They could feel every inch of the others body without the need for touch, and together as one they lost themselves in the bliss of their deep bonding.

Shia awoke in the early morning, Jani still firmly nuzzled up to her. She smiled warmly, pushing a lock of hair from her face just as she had that first night in Janis quarters. The quarian woman woke up slowly from the touch, nuzzling in closer to Shia with a sigh that conveyed a feeling of contentment.

"Good morning." Shia said softly, kissing Jani lightly on the cheek before nuzzling her neck lovingly.  
Jani giggled from the touch before responding. "It certainly is." She cooed. "You've been awake long?"  
"No, I just woke up."  
Jani leaned in a and their lips met. "Last night was amazing..." she said dreaming.  
"More than I ever imagined it would be." Shia said, smiling at her lover and holding her tightly.

They held each other for a while, allowing themselves to wake up properly.

"So, what happens today?" Jani asked while propping herself up against the backrest of the bed.  
"I don't know. We're still on leave, so I guess we don't _have_ to do anything." Shia replied with a smirk, her expression becoming more serious as she continued. "But I was thinking of visiting the Chief in the hospital."  
Jani stroked her cheek soothingly. "Want me to come with?"  
"Yeah... I'd like that." She said as her smile returned.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

She moved as quickly as the crutch would allow through the large lobby of Anderson Memorial Medical Center, it's metallic frame clicking sharply against the floor as she made her way towards the reception desk at the end of the large hall. Shia was apprehensive, she never liked hospitals and this one was no exception. The pungent smell of antiseptic filling her nose, the sighs and groans of people in pain and the constant low murmur of the medical staff all made her weary, and she feared that it would get even worse once she entered the actual ward. Then there was the purpose of her visit, the image of the Chief laid out on the ground of the grimy alley with a hole in his head was still fresh in her mind, and she wasn't much looking forward to reliving the experience.

Jani seemed much more at ease, moving gracefully by Shias side as the two young women navigated through the mostly uniformed crowd, her head bobbing from side to side as she struggled to take in everything that was happening around them, the tint of her visor seemingly reflecting the curiosity that surely rested firmly on the face beneath. Shia could understand her fascination, the clinic, like the Station in general was almost painfully human in it's design, bulky yet functional, and obviously exotic from her point of view. A smile forced it's way through her strained expression at the thought as they finally reached the queue at the front desk.

After waiting her turn behind a very upset Lieutenant who was apparently quite adamant about having a cast removed from his arm, Shia stepped up the the shiny white surface of the counter, leaning against it with both hands. The young receptionist paid her no attention at first, staring drowsily at his terminal while sipping what she assumed to be coffee from a metallic container. Shia considered him for a moment before clearing her throat to grab his attention. He slowly raised his gaze from the terminal and shot her a tired, uninterested look.

"Yes, what can I do for you... Corporal?" he said, squinting his eyes as he read her name patch.  
"Yeah, I'm looking for a patient, he was brought in-"  
"Name and rank?" the man interrupted with an annoyed, exaggerated sigh that seemed to convey the message that she was wasting his precious time. Shia felt a hot burst of anger boil up inside her, but decided that it was best not to argue needlessly, her green eyes iced up as she replied with a cold voice. "Adams, Gunnery-Chief. Assigned to the SSV Narva."  
The man sighed once again as he turned to his terminal, inputting commands quicker than his demeanor would suggest him capable of. "Room K42, ward A, second floor." he replied dryly without turning back to face Shia, waving his hand nonchalantly at the access elevator to the right of the desk. She thanked him sardonically as she pushed herself from the surface and turned towards the elevator. Jani glared at the receptionist through the opaque glass of her visor, "Bosh'tet." she muttered acidly before turning to follow Shia. When she reached her, she stood silently in front of the elevator door, staring intently at the green circle projected onto it. She approached her slowly, placing a a hand gently on her arm as she spoke. "Do you want me to go up with you?"  
Shia turned to her and smiled faintly. "No... No, I think I should go up there by myself." she said, shaking her head slowly.  
"Ok, I'll be here when you're done." Jani said, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.  
Shia leaned in and kissed the top of her visor lightly. "Thank you..."

As she'd expected, the ward itself made her even more uneasy than the large waiting area she just left. The place was much less crowded of course, and much quieter, but this somehow made it worse. It was the silence, and that horrible sterile scent, which was stronger here, that sent her mind spiraling with thoughts of helplessness and death. She hobbled slowly down the silent corridor, listening to the soft voices of some of the medical staff emanating from a small lounge, mixing with the low hum and beeping of medical equipment. Glancing at the markings on the doors to her side as she made her way down the dimly lit corridor, she stopped outside the one marked K42, hesitating whether she should go in. She was unsure why she had felt the need to come, much less what she should say.

"Can I help you?" a deep voice from behind caught her attention, she swung around to face a heavy-set human. He was older, a thick white beard contrasting against his dark skin. She met his eyes, they were set deeply on his face with his prominent brow casting a shadow over them, they beamed with kindness which put her instantly at ease.  
"I, uh... thought I'd check in on him." she said glumly, feeling a bit foolish as she motioned to the door.  
The man studied her for a moment with a faint smile on his lips. "You know him?" he asked softly, the depth of his voice sending a faint rumble through the sterile air.  
"Yeah, I was... with him when he got hit." She replied, shuddering slightly at the memory.  
The man nodded with understanding. "He was in a bad way." he said after a moment "We managed to repair most of the damage, he's coherent when he's awake, which is a good sign. As for his motor function, that's a different matter. It will take time..."  
Shia lowered her head. "Can I see him?" she asked quietly.  
The man stepped up to the door and opened it. "He might not be awake, but go ahead." Shia simply nodded in appreciation as she entered the room.

Feeling the door slide shut behind her, she made her way slowly towards the bed. The room was lit in much the same way as the corridor, a faint blue light coming from small lamps in the ceiling, but the window facing out towards a large chamber bathed in artificial sunlight gave it a much warmer feeling. She stepped up to the side of the bed, watching the Chief draw slow, steady breaths. He appeared to be asleep, the eye not covered by the large bandage to his head firmly closed. Shia couldn't help but be amused by his stern expression as he slept, it was exactly the same one she'd seen during their briefings, and she half expected him to start barking orders.

"Hey Chief..." she whispered after a moment of contemplation. TO her surprise, the man squirmed slightly in his bed and the exposed eye squinted open.  
"Mghrwhossat?" he grumbled groggily before managing to fix his eye on her. "Shepard..." he said, his voice raspy and tired.  
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you, sir." she replied anxiously, a tinge of regret evident in her voice.  
"'s fine" he mumbled "tired of lying 'ere alone anyway."  
"How are you holding up?"  
A light chuckle escaped from his lips. "Oh, 'bout as well as can be expected considering the hole in the head." he said, a mix of anger and regret painting his face as he continued "We won't be doin' any missions together anytime soon though..."  
"Chief, I-" she began, but she fell silent again, unsure of what to say.  
"'s fine, Shepard. It comes with the job, we all know the risks..." he said, glancing down at her injured leg "...and I guess now, you do too." He paused for several moments before continuing "So you pulled me out?"  
Shia nodded "I took down the shooter but... I-I was too late-"  
"Thank you." he interrupted "You did good, kid... you did good."

Shia felt a warm feeling in her body as she managed to relax completely for what felt like the first time since leaving the colony. She smiled as she reached out and took Adams hand in her own "It was an honor to serve with you, Chief."  
He smirked and unable to raise his hand, grasped her hand as tightly as he could. "Likewise, Shepard."

The meeting with Adams had left her mentally refreshed and in a far better mood, but she still ached to leave the hospital. Exiting the elevator on the ground floor, she hobbled as quickly as she could while her eyes peered around looking for Jani. Turning her gaze forward again she stopped abruptly as she nearly collided with a bulking frame clad in black armor. As she was about to deliver a sardonic remark at the obstacle in her path, she quickly swallowed her words as she caught the unmistakable white and red outlines of an N7 patch on the chestplate.

Without a moments hesitation she stood at attention the best she could, considering her leg, fidgeting with the crutch to produce a salute. She didn't look for rank, with the N7 it didn't matter, you saluted all the same. Hell, she'd seen Admirals saluting Commanders out of respect if the latter wore the N7 insignia.

"Sir! Sorry, I-" she stammered, unable to contain her embarrassment.  
"Easy there, Chica." A very familiar voice replied with a laugh. "Hoped I'd find you here."  
Shia looked up with a mix of shock and joy. "Uncle James? I mean, Captain..." she exclaimed. Struggling to resolve the familiar with the professional, it reminded her of that first day of basic when she'd seen Ashley.  
"Hey! I told you, no 'uncles' or ranks, makes me feel old."  
"You _are_ old." she retorted, instantly falling into the familiar mocking they'd often engage in "What are you doing here?"  
"Looking for you, heard you headed to the med center so I thought I'd catch up with you."

Captain James Vega was an intimidating man on any given day, but wearing his bulky armor with the coveted logo made him even more so, turning quite a few heads as they moved to sit by the panoramic window that ran the length of the waiting hall.

"Why are you really here, though?" Shia asked inquisitively, studying him carefully.  
"Nothing gets past you, does it? Man, I swear you're just like your parents." he said ponderously "Okay, yeah. I did want to talk to you about something."  
"I figured as much. So, whats up?"  
"I'm taking command of the Narva, the Alliance wants it assigned to special ops." he said, his tone was more serious than what Shia had come to expect.  
"I see..." she replied, pausing briefly "So, where does that leave me?"  
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." he said, studying her closely as he spoke "I'll understand if you want to put in for a transfer... in fact, I think the brass would expect me to force you out, given that you're enlisted." He looked out the window for a moment "But I know what you can do... This latest mission only confirms what I already knew. I'd like to have you on board, you'd be an asset, especially since the squad lacks biotic support... If you want to stay?"

Shia looked around briefly, thinking through her response. "What about Jani'Nara?" she asked carefully.  
"What, the quarian engineer? Already set it all up with her. Hell, ever since Sparks I've never been comfortable on a ship if it didn't have a quarian mechanic running the show." he replied excitedly, his mind drawn to the old days when he was still a grunt.  
Shia smiled widely "In that case, yeah, I'm in."  
"Sweet!" he exclaimed with a chuckle before his expression became more serious again. "I gotta say though, it might get ugly out there."  
She studied him with concern "What you mean?"

James stood up and walked over to the window, Shia following him as best she could. As she stood next to him, he spoke in a low voice. "There's something brewing in the Verge... Something big." he said, glancing over at her, meeting her gaze "I can't really say anything more right now."  
"Fine" Shia shrugged "I guess I get to know when I need to know."  
"We've all been there... and trust me, knowing ain't so great, just means you have more information about the shit you can't change."  
"I guess." she replied with another shrug "So, have you eaten yet? I was going to hook up with Jani and go get something, I'm starving."

James lit up at the very mention of food, and Shia had to stifle a giggle at his enthusiasm. After meeting up with Jani by the exit to the medical center and making the they headed off for the civilian sector. Jani was apprehensive at first, spending time with the new Captain in such an informal manner, but she quickly let up when Shia explained their history. As they walked along the promenade their attention was drawn to a large crowd forming by one of the large holoscreens that littered the sides of the path. As they approached, they could hear the gasps and murmur of the crowd almost drowning out the news feed from the Alliance News Network.

 _'... a full scale invasion of the Skyllian Verge. Calling itself the Free Batarian Republic, its leader Vohrek Khed'han calling for the eradication of the human occupation of what the Republic considers to be rightfully batarian space...'_

"Goddess!" Shia exclaimed, looking over at Jani who stood motionless in front of her.  
"Like I said..." James said coldly "Something big."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"What do you mean 'the Council won't help'?" James seethed between clenched teeth at the holographic image in front of him. "Damn it, Shepard! This all seems pretty familiar, don't you think?"  
The holographic projection of Sarah Shepard sighed deeply, straightening out the creases of her uniform. "I know, James. But it's not the same thing, and you know that. This is the Alliance' problem, and we have to solve it ourselves."  
"I thought the whole god damned point of the Galactic Council was cooperation, common defense..." he grumbled, reining in his frustration as he realized he was spewing it at the wrong target.  
"It is," Shepard continued "but the Verge isn't strictly Alliance territory, or within Citadel space; we can't expect them to come running simply because we've taken it upon ourselves to protect unaffiliated human colonies."

"What about Khar'shan?" James asked darkly after a moments pause "Do they have anything to say for themselves?"  
"They're denying all knowledge, and we're inclined to believe them. The Hegemony is in no state to wage war. We thought they might have supplied the colonists, but their fleet's still holding in the Harsa system."  
James scowled and his voice grumbled as he raised his gaze towards his former CO "What are our orders, Admiral?"

Sarah eyed him for a moment. They'd been through a lot together, and the absurdity of the fact that he'd once been in charge of guarding her as a prisoner still made her chuckle, much as it had when he served under her all those years ago. He was the right man for the job, there was no doubt about that. He was a veteran, battle tested and an N7 operative; hell, she trained him herself. Still, she never liked sending people on dangerous missions unless she happened to be leading the charge herself, a few more stripes on her shoulder hadn't changed that, and the fact that her daughter would now be one of them didn't make it any easier.

"The fleets are holding defensive positions around the core colonies, Elysium in particular." she began after a moment "We'll move on the disputed systems eventually, but you know the drill, it could take some time."  
"He who wants to protect everything, protects nothing..." James mused.  
"Exactly" Sarah nodded approvingly "That's why we need you. With the new core, the Narva is the fastest stealth ship in the fleet. We need you to run disruption and interference behind the lines. Supply lines, communications... anything, you find a soft spot and you hit it! You prick that needle at the beast and you bleed it dry."  
James face contorted into a devilish grin as he spoke. "Now we're talking."  
"Yeah, I thought you'd like it..." Sarah chuckled "But more importantly, we need answers James. Find out who's supplying the Republic. We need to cut them off, we'll eventually win even by attrition, but it will be costly."  
"Understood."  
"Oh, and James..." Sarah began, leaning in closer with a worried look, James could hear the hesitation in her voice.  
"Don't worry, Lola" he filled in "I'll keep her safe."  
A weary smile crept over Sarahs face "Thank you, James, and good luck. Shepard out."

The pungent smell of gun oil and solvent tickled her nostrils, she let the thin cloth dance over the metal casing as she held it up to her eyes, studying its now perfectly reflective surface intently. With a light purr of contentment she slid the piece into place, watching it glide smoothly and quietly until it locked into position with a familiar clicking sound. She reached out over the workbench and grabbed the final piece, the bench was a small island of light in the dimly lit hangar, it's orange light reflecting in the oil giving it the hue of dark amber. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed the metal absentmindedly as she listened to the soft hum of the engine.

"Spring cleaning?" a voice filled with mirth chirped behind her, the owners footsteps drawing closer across the metal floor.  
"More like therapy." Shia chuckled without turning around.

Amherst strolled up beside her and rested against the side of the workbench, glancing down at the nearly reassembled weapon. "M-5 Phalanx" she nodded in reserved admiration "Very nice. Though I much prefer the shooting to the cleaning."  
Shia looked up from her polishing and looked at Amherst with distant eyes. "I loved building model ships when I was a kid, this is kinda the same thing... you know, only with more metal and grease." she said with a smile, weighing the metallic piece in her hand.

Amherst let out a light laugh. "So, how's the leg, Corporal?"  
"Doing alright, ma'am" Shia replied "Doc cleared me for duty this morning."  
"Good, we're going to need you able and willing."  
Shia sat pondering for a moment before she spoke again. "So, with the Chief gone... you'll command the unit?"  
Amherst sighed as she shifted her weight slightly "Technically, but I suspect the Captain will take the lead himself. Never known an N7 to sit on his ass. You know him, right?"  
"Yeah" Shia nodded "He served with my dad, you know, during the war."  
"Shit, walking out of that mess still able to hold a gun, has to be a tough son of a bitch."  
"Tough as they come." Shia confirmed with a laugh "He's a good guy though, level headed... for the most part."  
"I guess we'll find out." Amherst mused "That's actually why I came to find you, Captain's briefing us tomorrow, 0700. You didn't confirm the message on your omni-tool."  
Shia froze as she realized her mistake. "Hell, I tuned the- I'm sorry ma'am, I'll-"  
"Relax Shepard." She chuckled "Just make sure you get some shut-eye so you're not late."  
As she watched Amherst exit the hangar through the elevator, Shia slid the final piece of her pistol into place and balanced it firmly in her hand. She smirked lightly as she mused to herself. "Yes ma'am."

She entered the quarters as silently as she could, assuming Jani would already be asleep. She couldn't remember the last time she slept in her bunk on the crew deck, but she was far from complaining. As she slid down under the covers, she felt her lover stir in the darkness next to her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." she whispered softly.  
Jani groaned lightly "I thought you decided to sleep in your bunk or something."  
"Never again" Shia giggled "I just lost track of time down in the armory, I have to be up again in five hours..."  
"Something going on?" Jani asked, a hint of worry in her voice.  
Shia sighed and rolled over to face her. "Yeah, mission brief... I might be going out again."  
Jani cupped Shias cheek in her hand "You ok?"  
"I guess... I mean, I want to get back to work. But as dumb as it may sound from someone in the military, I never really expected to find myself in the middle of a war."  
"I don't think anyone ever does." Jani replied soothingly "Just promise me you'll be careful, ok?"  
Shia kissed her deeply before she responded. "I promise."

The air in the briefing room was thick, a sense of excitement mingling with a tint of fear as the team waited for their new commanding officer. Everyone at the table had seen action in one way or another, even Shia, though still wet behind the ears, had earned herself a level of respect for her actions during her first mission. But special operations was a different matter entirely, and none of them knew exactly what to expect, finding the mix of pride and honor of serving under an N7 operative and the apprehension of being on unfamiliar ground hard to reconcile. Even Amherst, usually a calm and collected woman, was nervously polishing off her fifth cup of coffee. The group was pulled out of their collective fidgeting as the door hissed open to reveal James entering the room at a steady pace. Before they could rise to attention, James waved them off with his hand and a casual "As you were". He wore a tight fitting shirt, his tattoos crawling the length of his arm to emerge at the base of his neck like black flames caressing the skin.

He cleared his throat as he took up position at the end of the table "I assume you've all read the preliminary and that you're up to date on the nature of our mission?" he asked. The question was largely rhetorical, yet he smiled as nods met him from across the table. "Good. Now, we've receive reports of a batarian installation on Goreth... It's what you'd call a hellhole, hot and mucky, previously believed to be uninhabited. We're likely dealing with a small base, but there's been a significant level of QEC traffic from the planet since the invasion began. The brass wants us to check it out, gather what intel we can and disable whatever it is they've got down there."

James looked over his team to gauge their reactions before continuing. "I'll take a small team and go in quietly. Amherst, Shepard, think you're up for it?" he said, his eyes locked firmly on the two women.  
Shia shot Amherst a quick glance, the older woman giving her a mild nod. "Yes sir." they answered in unison.

"Alright" James exclaimed "Hendricks, we'll need a stealth drop, after which you pull back to the ship, we can't risk exposing our presence. Once the mission's complete, we'll call for extraction. Understood?"  
Hendricks simply nodded his response, his jaw clenched as if stifling a protest. He didn't like to leave his team behind, even when he understood the logic behind it.  
James allowed his lips to form into a smirk. "Good, you have your orders. You're all on standby, ETA is roughly two hours. Scramble your gear. Dismissed."

As the group filed out of the room, Shia felt a lump form in her chest. _No shuttle on standby..._ She knew what it meant, and given their new role in the conflict, she might have expected it. But there was a finality about it that made her cringe, _Either get it done or you're not coming back_. For the first time in a long while, she had to admit to herself that she was afraid.

The team watched the shuttle disappear against the murky sky of Goreth. The clouds, much like the air itself seemed to be shifting in various shades of brown against the sagging yellowish canopy of the jungle. The heavy rain that fell over them did little to counteract the oppressive heat, the world seemed locked in a perpetual cycle of accelerated evaporation and precipitation; the rain instantly evaporating from the ground only to fall again as it reached a certain altitude. Shia felt sick as the thick mud closed around her boots, and with each step a thick stench of decomposition rose from the muck beneath her. _Hellhole..._ she repeated in her mind _You sure know how the pick 'em, James._

Shia and Amherst converged on James in a small clearing of exposed bedrock, grateful to leave the slippery ground behind.  
He brought up his omni-tool, detailing the route to the target.

"One click southwest." he seethed "We don't have any information on the structure itself, only the location of the signals, so move cautiously. I'll take point."  
"As long as we get out of this crap I don't really care if we have to share a roof with a bunch of pissed off batarians." Amherst scoffed, earning a soft chuckle from Shia and James.  
"Alright then, we're moving out." James ordered, motioning his rifle towards the end of the clearing.

Progress through the trunks was slow and arduous, as they slipped, tripped and tangled their way through the muck and the dense vegetation. Shia thought back to the end of basic, and Davids ranting about the heat and the humidity on Benning. She had to contain her mirth as she imagined the poor guy toppling over, resigned to his fate as soon as he stepped off the shuttle on this rock. After a good couple of hours, Shia had trouble determining exactly how long, they reached the edge of a large clearing, a metallic structure clearly visible in its center.

They propped themselves up against the wall of the large circular structure, the large transmitter towering above them. They moved slowly along the circumference looking for a break in the sleek surface to invite them in. As they reached the far side of the structure, the unmistakable outline of a ramp gave them their opportunity. As they closed in on it, James could see the outline of a guard in the shadows by the large door, the glowing glass eyes of his helmet peering out into the distance. He held up his hand for them to stop, alerting his team to the enemy presence.

He studied his target carefully, the world around him faded as his eyes focused. He could see it, a pattern of movement emerge and he began to move. Eyes locked on his enemy, he signaled his team to hold their position. Shia and Amherst could only watch as the bulky figure closed the distance with speed and efficiency, amazed at how such a large frame could move so quietly. As he reached the top of the ramp, the guard still turned away, he reached his arm around his neck as the omni-tool flickered to life. In one fluid motion, the fabricator produced it's glowing blade, and James plunged it deeply into the mans side. The guard let out a garbled, gurgling hiss as James lowered his limp frame to the ground.

He motioned for them to approach. Shia stared at the lifeless form lying before her. The efficiency and grace of the brutal act had taken her aback, fascination and revulsion tearing at her being, she slowly turned away. She had seen people die before, she'd even shot people herself; but this was different, it was close... personal. James firm hand on her shoulder pulled her from the storm in her mind, he looked at her understandingly and gave her a small reassuring smile.  
"Alright" he said with a deep exhale "We're going in."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Shia felt the corroded metal against her fringe as she pressed her head against it. It felt cold to the touch, but she was sure it was only the moisture and relative temperature to the warm air fooling her senses. The place gave her the creeps, the dim lighting and the dripping echoing through the long, curved corridor could have been quite cozy if one enjoyed the feeling of being trapped in a giant metal casket on the bottom of the ocean. Her mother had told her stories about one particular prothean ruin on Kajhe that would fit the description, though she remained thankful that her escape route would less hazardous; hopefully.

She flinched as a metallic cringe erupted through the empty space, and the team froze in position for a moment. She exhaled slowly, fighting back the rushing pulse thumping in her ears. _It's a metal building on a planet that's hot as hell, metal expands when hot. Get a grip, fear makes you stupid._ she rambled in her head, exhaling slowly again as the sound of boots on the filthy floor once again alerted her to move. They moved in silent tension for what felt like kilometers, the distinct feeling that they'd been moving in large circles made them quietly sigh with relief as they reached the end of the long, swirling tunnel, a large door blocking their path.

"There's no technology here, no terminals, no relays... no nothing! Why make it this huge if you're not going to fill it with anything?" Shia whispered as she hunkered down next to James. His brows formed into a frown as he shook his omni-tool to life, scanning the door in front of them and bathing the decaying metal in soft amber.  
"Spiral structure acts as some kind of magnetic field amplifier... powers the transmitter or something, I dunno." he scoffed "Regardless, shit's interfering with scans. I can get a rough layout, but bioscan's a no-go." He tapped the interface with unnecessary force in frustration, making it flicker out and return the corridor to it's original murky dusk. "Seems all that's left is the chamber behind this tin-can lid right here. Should be the control room."  
"So what's the plan then, Captain? Just storm the place? Amherst asked, turning to face him.  
"Well, there's only one way in, no?"  
"So that's a _yes_ on busting in through the front door, sir?" Shia asked nervously.  
"We'll bust it in _gently_ , Corporal." He replied with a wide grin. Shia nodded and swallowed hard at the prospect.  
"Just be ready with those fancy barriers of yours." he added as he began the process of disabling the locking mechanism.

James had never been much of a tech, preferring to shoot at problems rather than mind-wrestling them. Still, his years of service had taught him the value of being able to hack something in a crunch. Being ordered to repair a turian communications tower as a rabid horde of cybernetic zombies claw at your boots while almost passing out from lack of oxygen could do wonders for ones outlook. He smirked at the memory, it hadn't been funny then but it certainly was now.  
He shuddered slightly with satisfaction as he heard the muffled thud of the interlocks releasing within the frame and the holopad shifting to green.

The chamber wasn't as large as the long corridor had made her expect. They entered onto a large platform that connected to a staircase that ran to the bottom of the chamber to their left, and to their right up to a windowed pod that stood out from the wall, overlooking the cylindrical coil that ran from the bottom of the pit and connecting to thick wires towards the top. She followed it with her eyes, squinting as she met the soft glare of the outside world through the gap between the top of the building and the large dish above them. Even the hazed brown light of this world stung at her eyes after so long in the dark corridor, she waited for her eyes to adjust before turning back to James. The team let their eyes wander around the chamber, looking for any signs of movement.

Confident that the area was clear, or at least appeared to be, James motioned for them to move on the pod up the right staircase. As they took a few steps toward the stairs, a loud cringe made them swing around to see the large door slam shut, a buzzing sound following in its wake.

"Fuck, secondary circuit." James hissed angrily.  
"So, what? We're trapped in here?" Shia asked with barely contained desperation.  
"Calm down, we'll get the job done and then blow the damn door up if we have to."  
"We'd better move... if there's more hostiles they probably know-" Amherst began, her words cut short by a bullet gracing her shoulder guard. "Shit! Like I said!" She shouted, huddling into a firing position to trail her aim at the batarians now swarming into the bottom of the chamber through an opening which had been concealed by the large coil.

James shuffled over to Amherst, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling her back. "I'll hold them off, get started on that damn door." he said, raising his voice over the gunfire. He turned to Shia before continuing. "Shepard, get to that control room and get the data." he said, throwing her a small device, she caught it clumsily. "Once you do, activate that thing. It's a transponder, should paint the facility nicely for the Narva to drop a little package down their chimney!"  
Shia fidgeted with the device in her hand. "Sir, I-I'm not sure if-" she stuttered as James cut her off sternly "That's an order, Corporal. Go!"  
Shia swallowed nervously, embarrassed by her own insecurity and her fear. She shrugged and tried to compose herself, locking eyes with James as she spoke. "Aye, sir!"

She secured the transponder in one of the pockets that lined the arms of her armor and threw a quick glance at the enemies below them before she bolted quickly up the stairs towards the pod. She heard James yelling behind her and Amherst frantic responses, though the words didn't register. She threw herself through the opening of the pod violently, letting her pistol trail over the room before planting her hands on the console. Her eyes searched the projected surface, but the symbols made no sense to her, swirling together into a chaotic blur. She felt panic start to seep into her mind as she punched the interface in frustration. _"Jani..."_ she gasped as she activated her her omni-tool, the signal was weak and the call kept getting disconnected.

"C'mon you piece of shit!" she yelled frantically.  
["...hia?..hat you?"] the speaker crackled with static, but she could make out the unmistakable voice of the young quarian woman. A jolt shot through her heart and a nervous, almost desperate laugh escaped her lips.  
["..Clear up... signal"] Janis voice continued ["There, do you read me now?"]  
"Loud and clear. Listen, I need help to download the database, I can't get in... I don't even know what I'm doing. Can you set up a downlink?" Shia felt herself rambling, but she was beyond caring about it at this point.  
["Sure, just set your omni-tool to relay mode"]  
Shia tapped the interface, having to steady her hand from shaking. "There it's set up-" A flicker of movement behind her made her snap around and raise her pistol.

Four eyes stared back at her, cold and calculating but laced with fear. The batarian froze as Shia trailed her weapon on her, a low growl escaped the woman as she eyed her cautiously, her teeth slightly exposed. Shia couldn't help but being slightly intrigued, meeting a batarian female was far from commonplace, and she almost regretted not being able to indulge her curiosity, assuming that the woman in front of her wouldn't be all that keen on conversation.  
"Hands on your head!" Shia seethed, motioning with her pistol. The batarian did as she was told, but the growl in her throat intensified.  
Shia stared her down codly. "Don't. Move." she spat, announcing each word harshly.

"How we doing, Jani?"  
["Setting up the downlink now, should only be a moment"] Janis modulated voice rasped back over the comm.  
"Good, let me know when we've got it all."

She heard the terminal behind her come to life, and in a moment of thoughtlessness, she turned her head slightly to view the flashes of code flowing quickly over the display. A sudden burst of movement at the corner of her eye drew her attention back to the batarian woman she was holding at gunpoint, she caught her arm moving quickly down to her side. Shia let out a loud yelp and almost on instinct, she squeezed the trigger. The world stopped for a moment before her senses returned to her. She felt warm and clammy splotches cling to her face as her prisoner fell to the ground, red blood flowing from a circular wound in her forehead. _She went for a weapon... Didn't she? Goddess... I had no choice..._ she was pulled out of her thoughts by Jani screaming in her ear.

["Shia! What happened? Oh Keelah..."]  
"I-I'm... I'm here." she stuttered, turning away from the body.  
["Ancestors, I thought..."] Jani replied in relief, her voice was thick.  
"I'm fine, Jani... The download?"  
["Done, we got it all"]  
"Good, we're heading back... I'll see you soon." she said, deactivating her omni-tool. She took out the transponder and placed it on the console, pressing the button on the device a small indicator light began flashing in even bursts.

As she headed out of the room, she glanced back at the body on the floor one last time, a deep sigh escaped her as she turned away and ran for her team. James had been joined by Amherst in suppressing the batarian soldiers, the door to the corridor now stood open, inviting them to make their escape.

"Transponder in place and active, sir!" She yelled, coming up beside him.  
"Good work, Corporal." James hollered back, activating his comm. "Narva, this is Vega. Transponder active, target at ten minutes."  
Shia didn't hear the response, but the smirk on his face alerted her that the ship was on it's way.  
"Alright, we're pulling out. Amherst, close the door behind us as we withdraw!"  
"Aye aye!" the woman yelled, moving backwards through the opening.

Running through the wet jungle they heard the roar of the Narvas engines in the distance. Shia stumbled against a thick tree as the ground shook violently, and the sound of thunder rolling over them. She turned around in the direction of the compound to see a plume of thick smoke rising towards the brown sky. She exhaled and slumped down in the mud on the ground, leaning back against the log. "Mind calling a cab, Captain?" Amherst mused "I think I need a shower... a very long shower."  
"Yeah, I know the feeling." Shia replied solemnly.

She turned the water as hot as it would go, letting it scold her slightly as it ran over her fringe and down her back. She felt exhausted, but letting the dirt of the planet wash away made her feel better. She went over the mission in her head, her mind leading her back to the batarian woman. _I had no choice..._ She had repeated the mantra over and over again. To her own surprise, she believed it. She wasn't happy about it, but she believed it. She tried herself of and slipped into her Alliance hoodie and headed down to Janis quarters.

Jani sat in the small sofa, flicking over something on the extranet. Nothing really caught her eye, her mind still slightly distant after the scare earlier that day. She brightened up as the door hissed open.

"Hey there." she beamed at Shia as she entered the room.  
Shia smiled back, a weak smile but sincere, and strolled over and kissed her on the forehead. "Hey."  
She made her way over to the bed and nearly fell face first into it, letting out a deep sigh as she let her body relax against the soft surface. Jani came over and joined her, stroking the back of her fringe softly.  
"Probably more comfortable if you drag your head up to the pillow."  
"Probably" Shia chuckled lightly, her voice muffled by the sheets. She forced herself up and turned to her side.  
"You look totally beat"  
"I am... feel like I could sleep for a decade."  
Jani watched her silently for a moment before she continued. "Something bothering you?"  
"I don't know..." Shia said tiredly "Before we left Arcturus, I had a talk with my dad... about the Chief. I told her I wasn't sure I have what it takes to be a soldier."  
"And you're still not sure?" Jani asked worriedly.  
"No, I'm sure... I'm just not sure I _want_ to have what it takes."  
Jani turned to her and looked deep in her eyes. "Whatever you did, Shia... I know you did it for the right reasons, that's all that matters."  
Shia smiled widely before leaning in to kiss her again. "Thanks." she said brightly "You always know just what to say, don't you."  
"I aim to please." Jani replied with a lithe chuckle.

They lay silently for a moment before Shia continued. "So, what did we get from the database?"  
"Not sure yet, we're still compiling. We'll have some answers in the morning." Jani replied with a yawn.  
"Good... Can't wait."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 _She walks up to the kneeling figure in front of her, the boots heavy against the floor, the black leather of her uniform creaking as it follows the movements of her body. 'That's me? What the f-... I'd never wear that!', she tries to object but the words won't come, she tries to move but her limps won't obey; silent and detached. She watches herself move around the platform, it seemed to be suspended in space with darkness surrounding on all sides, lit from above by a pale blue light. She stops before the kneeling figure, it raises its head, turning in her direction, four eyes wet with tears pierce through her mind. 'The batarian woman? No... no, this isn't how it happened."_

 _"Can't even face me, can you maggot?" she hears herself say, the voice is raspy, it sounds hard and hollow. The batarian woman sobs loudly, keeping her eyes firmly on the observing Shia. She sees herself move around to the back of the kneeling woman, pulling out her pistol, the leather creaks as the gloves strain against the weapon. She pressed the barrel against the back of the woman's skull as she places the bears her teeth "Pathetic..." she hisses as her finger starts squeezing the trigger._

 _'No!' Shia tries to shout when a familiar voice interrupts her silent struggle. 'Dad?'  
"Shiala..." Sarah says in a thick voice, appearing on the platform. Her shoulders are slumped and an expression of pain and sorrow paints her pale face.  
"Admiral" she heard herself croak in a mocking tone.  
"I never thought I'd see you like this..." she heard her father muse in sorrow "...You changed."  
She saw her own face contort into a wicked grin before speaking again in that foreign, raspy voice "For the better" she said, pulling the trigger._

Shia sat up violently, the haze of sleep quickly fled her mind and she felt the intense throbbing of her heartbeat, the imagined gunshot still ringing in her ears. She struggled to get her frantic breathing under control, feeling on the verge of hyperventilating. Her head moved frantically from side to side in the piercing darkness as she tried to get her bearings. She felt the panic claw at the back of her mind before a faint mumble from the right side of the bed caught her attention. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out Janis lithe form tossing about gently under the covers; the sight put her at ease somewhat, at least enough to soothe the descent into panic. She sighed deeply, hoisting herself out of bed and putting on a pair of trainers to go with the regulation tank she used for sleepwear. Careful not the wake the sleeping quarian, she tripped gingerly and made her way out into the corridor towards the elevator.

She always found the crew deck to be eerie at this hour. The lack of crew present felt unnatural, and the knowledge that some of them were no doubt resting uncomfortably in the pods lining the walls somehow managed to make the feeling of loneliness even more pressing. She passed the dimly lit galley and made her way straight towards the lounge. The familiar faint scent of smoke and liquor felt oddly soothing and went well with the calm sea out stars visible through the viewport. The cabinet was well stocked, and she was pleasantly surprised to find an untouched bottle of Thessian brandy; not the fancy kind, of course, but still a decent one for navy pay grade. "Dads favorite" she chuckled mildly to herself as she pulled the bottle out and sat down in the soft couch in front of the large window.

Janis eyes flickered tiredly as they attempted to keep up with the stream of information running over the screen, she tapped a few commands into the pad she was working on before setting it down gently by the console. She'd been at it for almost a full day with little rest, she sighed while rubbing her eyes gently, they felt dry and strained and she felt a dull throb settle in behind them. "Why always a tenth layer of encryption?" she muttered, to herself more than anyone before picking up the pad again. The work was paying off at long last, the information streaming in front of her now in English rather than some obscure Khar'shan dialect. Translation was usually a simple matter as far as hacking alien tech went, but it seemed that the glossaries supplied by the Hegemony in the past had been far from comprehensive. She twitched visibly as James walked up behind her, having been so enthralled by her work, or simply too tired to notice the door.

"Captain!" she exclaimed, fidgeting with both her words and the pad in her hand.  
"How's it looking?" He asked promptly, hiding a smirk from having startled her; it wasn't often the lumbering marine managed to make a discrete entrance anywhere.  
"We're getting results, sir." she said, handing the pad over for inspection "I've managed to separate the comm logs and navcom routing orders from the rest of the database, we should have it all within a few minutes... There's a lot of data though."

James huffed his approval, wondering briefly if there even was such a thing as an incompetent Quarian. He hadn't served with many, but the few he had all seemed like mechanical magicians to him, and even the civilians seemed to be able to make everything from toasters and electric shavers to towering mechs do their bidding. In fact, he vaguely recalled Tali threatening to program the servos in his armor to do the kalinka if he wouldn't stop calling her 'Sparks', though he had been far more impressed with her knowledge of human dancing than the actual threat.

"There, that's everything." Jani said, pulling him from his thoughts.  
"Good work. Have it encrypted and transferred to my private terminal, I'll need to analyze it all before sending it to Command." He replied, handing the pad back. "And Ms. Nara" he continued after a moments pause "The contents off these logs are confidential, and to be kept under wraps... at least until I know what we're dealing with here."  
The severity of his voice made Jani swallow nervously. "Y-Yes... Captain." She said as she watched him exist the room.  
She stared at the pad in her hand for a moment in indecision, overt curiosity had always been one of her more defining characteristics; a curse at times, but also her greatest strength. She bit her lip slightly before letting her fingers hover over the tactile interface and start the encryption process and queu the data transfer. Leaning over the terminal, she sighed deeply and wiped the local copy of the logs.

"Keelah, I could use some sleep... Or a drink." she muttured to herself as she leaned back back against the sleek, cold metal of the bulkhead.

The familiar low electronic buzzing and rythmic thumps of his limited musical database greeted James as he entered his cabin on the top deck. He sighed at the sight, despite a few years wearing captains stripes he was still a grunt at heart, and he still felt slightly uncomfortable with the relative luxury of his living space; though he had to admit that the bed really was a lot harder than it looked.

He tapped his omni-tool to shore up the ambient lighting, drowning out the cold blue shine of the vacant fish tank with a warm yellow glow and sat down at his desk. He groaned slightly at the pile of paper in front of him, the small table was virtually covered in crew evaluations, requisition orders and reports, making it stand out from the otherwise regulation neat quarters. He cleared the terminal from clutter and rejoiced quietly when he found the still smokeable remains of a cigar under a pile of engineering incident reports. He fired it up, letting the warm blue smoke circulate in his mouth and roll out over his tongue as he turned the screen on and loaded the the encrypted data, making a mental note to commend Jani on her expediency.

He quickly sifter thorough the navcom routing orders in the package. It was valuable intel, but not much use without being put in context, so he decided to focus on the comm log transcripts. Most of it was fairly mundane, but slowly the nuggets started to pile up; a personal message caught his eye.

 _"Confirming departure of two platoons out of Omega within the next ten days. Mostly Vorcha, I'm not sending you the heavy shit just yet, the Blood Pack's not that stupid. They're a mangy bunch of rejects, but just whip the scum hard enough and they'll fall in line.  
\- Jorgal Genk"_

James sat back and chewed steadily on the now fairly damp cigar. _Blood Pack?_ he thought in slight disbelief _"The hell are they doing working with the Hegemony?"_  
He continued pouring over the logs, and as he went, more and more correspondence between the batarian station and various outside forces started to emerge. "Jesus... they've get half the terminus heading our way..." he scoffed as he read yet another message, this time from some rouge outfit of the Eclipse. The hours passed through a few more cigars and half a bottle of tequila, James rubbed his eyes wearily, giving them a moments pause from the intense glare of the screen. He scrolled down further and paused as he came up on a large sequence of departure requests in tight succession, he continued down to the end, finding a blanket alert notice immediately preceding the wave of departures. He sighed and opened the file, deciding that it would be the last one for the evening. As he read the short message, his face instantly grew pale and he swallowed hard in an attempt to clear the lump forming in his throat. "... joder!" he cursed under his breath as he tapped his comm.

"Why is this door locked?" Jani asked impatiently as she stood in front of the lounge.  
["The door was sealed by verbal command at 04.36, Engineer Nara"] the VI informed coldly.  
"That was 20 hours ago! By _who_!?" she exclaimed.  
["The door was sealed by Corporal Shepard via verbal co-"]  
"Yes, I heard you, just open the door!" she sneared.  
["Command override is req-"]

Jani groaned loudly and simply set to work on the door interface. She didn't technically hold Alliance rank, and lacked authority, but as chief engineer she had access to the whole ship, and the process of overriding the lock was a simple and quick one. The door slid open and she entered the room, the residual smoke stung her sensitive sinuses and she recoiled slightly before entering the room and letting the door close behind her. She looked around the room slowly, it seemed empty.

"Shia?" she called out mildly as the took a step forward.  
A set of familiar blue fringes shot up from behind the couch in front of her, and she jumped back a startled.  
"Whu? Whutimeizit?" Shia blurted out only half awake.  
"Nearly midnigt..." Jani responded as she made her way around the couch and sat down next to Shia. "Are you alright?"  
Shia groaned and pushed away an empty bottle in mild disgust. "I don't know, Jani... I just..."  
"What? You can tell me."  
"I just don't know if I can do this... The violence, it makes me sick! And I'm supposed to be a soldier?"  
Jani looked at her lover with deep empathy and stroked her fringe soothingly "A good soldier doesn't like to use violence, a good soldier knows when to avoid it, but isn't afraid to when there is no other choice."  
Shia sighed deeply "I know... but I know I already have blood on my hands, and I know there will be more. That's the way it works, my father, she had to leave people to die. And captain Vega, he had to sacrifice a whole colony for the sake of the mission! I don't know if I could live with something like that"  
Jani pulled her in tightly and kissed her, as she pulled away, she looked into her eyes intently. "I know you, Shia. I'm not saying it'll be easy, or fair, but I know that you'll make the _right_ choices... whatever that may be" she pulled her into a tight hug before she continued "You're a lot stronger than you think you are, you know?"  
Shia chuckled in between sobbing softly "Look who's talking"

They were interrupted by a loud buzzing sound, and the ambient lighting changed to a hue of red as the VI came in over the PA system, the shrill artificial voice echoing in the room. ["All hands to stations. Threat condition one."]


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The elevator was taking forever as usual, and Shia felt her pulse pound painfully behind her eyes and cursed the ships VI as it repeated its alert mantra yet again. Her mouth was dry and her skin cold and clammy, the slightly foul scent of brandy still lingered in her nostrils to the point where she could still taste it. _I'm never drinking again... for real this time_. Jani had headed straight for engineering, of course, and while her own station was to simply be on standby in the armory, it also involved reporting to the TL, and she was pretty sure that she'd find James in the CIC. She did her best to compose herself as she exited the elevator, though the chaotic atmosphere on the command deck rang in her ears as orders were barked across the floor in attempts to be heard over the alerts.

"No enemy contact at the relay, flight lieutenant?" James spoke loudly into his comm from behind his private terminal.  
"Confirmed, sir. Whatever it was it's gone now; could just have been a shadow." Ces chimed in, barely audible over the noise.  
James hung his head in relief. "Good, stand down condition one, takes us to Condition two but keep us in stealth mode."  
He rubbed the base of his nose before raising his head from the console "Would someone please kill that fucking alarm?" he barked "Haddad!?"  
"Almost got it, sir!" a young man by a comm terminal piped up, all the while looking like a pyjack about to be fried by a shuttle thruster. Shia thought he looked far to young to be on active duty, and coming from her that was saying a lot, though she was sure she was the exact same way just a few months earlier. The young serviceman finally managed to complete his task, and there was an audible sigh of relief at the relative silence that ensued as the alarm was silenced at last.  
"Finally..." James grumbled "Now, about that commlink?"  
"There's heavy interference, sir, we've been unable to establish a stable connection." Haddad replied with a hint of uncertainty.  
"Just fucking perfect" James sighed "just... keep working on it."

Shia took a deep breath and straightened as much as she could muster without toppling over before approaching James slowly.  
"Captain?" she called out with a voice that was still a bit sliggish.  
"Hey, I was wondering whe-" he began before stopping mid sentence to stare at her with a bewildered expression.  
"Either you just went ten rounds against a krogan or you had a run-in with my old friend mescal. Either way, you'll need this" He continued with a chuckle, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a tube of hydration tables.  
"Brandy, actually..." she said nonchalantly, knocking back a few of the pills while gratefully accepting a canteen from James to wash them down.  
"You getting fancy on me, corporal?"  
"A girl's got to have standards" she replied in between sips from the bottle "So you just carry this stuff around with you?"  
"Never know when a corporal's going to do something stupid, best come prepared." he teased.  
"Uh huh" she replied, rolling her eyes at him "so what's going on?"

James sighed deeply and rested against his console.  
"We got the information from that data package we picked up; they're going after Euler."  
"They _what_?" Shia gasped. "How is that even possible?"  
"They fucking played us, that's how!" James cursed between clenched teeth. "We've got the bulk of the fleet tied down defending the Verge colonies, they'd be able to get a whole fucking fleet through the relay before the forces in Arcturus could react in any meaningful way."  
"What are they hoping to gain anyway, aside from a couple of million dead humans? Wiping Benning off the galaxy charts won't get them the Verge."  
"Strategic move" he muttered "Without Benning's industries and agricultural output; not to mention the shipyards, we'll have enough trouble just securing the Stream..."  
"And while we're busy rebuilding, they move in on the Verge undisturbed." she added indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest.  
He nodded his confirmation, having arrived at the same conclusion. Shia looked at her Captain in anticipation "So what do we do?"  
James furrowed his brow in concentration for a moment before tapping his comm and turning back to Shia. "We go after them, try to raise the fleet as soon as we can." he said, tapping the comm again to unmute it "Ces!".  
"Sir?" the turian pilots reply was swift and curt.  
"Set course for Euler... quickly but quietly."

Jani felt the familiar tingle in her skin as the drive core activated behind her, painting the engine room in shades of sapphire and sending ripples like reflecting water across the bulkheads. She always liked it, though the color blue held a lot more significance for her now, she admitted with a snicker. She enjoyed the sensation too, imagining it to be something similar to what biotics experienced, only much more timid. She strolled over to the core access panel and made a quick rundown of the readouts; all within tolerance, at least for now. Her comm chimed brightly, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Engineering, Bridge. Nara, you present and accounted for?" Ces asked. She spoke rapidly, her subharmonics betraying some mild stress and apprehension.  
"Go ahead, bridge."  
"Ah, good. Hey, what's the word on those tolerance levels? Can we go to full power while running stealth?"  
"I haven't been able to iron down the stabilization problem completely, but it should be fine as long as I monitor it and make the adjustments manually..." Jani replied, trailing off to run a projection of the scenario.  
"So you hate the idea, but it's possible, that about it?  
"Yes Ces, that's about it." She sighed.  
"Great, let me know if there's a problem. Bridge out!"

She sighed again as she flicked off the comm "Oh, yeah, I'll tell you if there's a problem... you know, unless the drive core exploding doesn't give it away first" she muttered to herself, leaning over the console and entering the first set of corrections for the stabilization field.  
"Chain of command getting you down?" a voice behind her asked and she felt a flutter in her stomach as she spun around on the spot to face Shia standing at the end of the walkway, watching her.  
"Hey you." she exclaimed happily, a bright smile lightning up her face instantly at the sight. "Feeling any better?"  
Moving in closer, Shia glanced at the drive core apprehensively. "You're sure it's safe to be close to that thing? Looks like it might pop any minute..."  
"About as safe here as anywhere on the ship, really." Jani said with a giggle "You'd have to be pretty far away if it decided to blow."  
Shia reached out to her, placing her hands around her waist and pulling her in close. A small gasp escaped from Janis lips as she placed her arms around Shias neck in turn.  
"Well, that's reassuring." Shia said teasingly.  
"I don't think you'd believe me if I wasn't honest." she replied, tracing a finger along the back of Shias neck. "And you didn't answer my question. Feeling better?"  
"Oh yeah" Shia chuckled "Turns out the captain keeps a hangover cure on him at all times... good to know for future reference."  
Her smiled faulted slightly, and Jani could see the worry and apprehension that was still darkening her admittedly cheerier mood.  
"Something wrong?"  
Shia bit her lip for a moment before reaching to her lower back, pulling out a small object wrapped in cloth.  
"I have something for you" she said, taking a small step back and handing the object to Jani.  
Jani took it and weighed it in her hands, it felt heavy. She pulled the cloth aside to reveal a compact pistol. It looked old and weathered, the markings nearly worn off the metal, but it still looked well kept.  
"You want _me_ to have this?" she asked, giving Shia a quizzical expression.  
"Yeah..." Shia said, nodding slowly "We might be taking the ship into battle... soon. I want you to carry this with you, just in case."  
"Thank you... I don't really know how to use one though." she replied, staring anxiously at the metallic monster in her hands. Shia shifted to stand next to her, guiding her hands to grip the weapon properly.  
"It's a Carnifex... It packs a lot of power, but doesn't have that much recoil. I used to shoot this at the range when I was a kid; my first gun, actually, dad gave it to me for my tenth birthday. Though She kept it locked away of course." she said, guiding Janis hand to a small switch on the side of the weapon. "Feel this? That's your safety, you just flick it and you're good to go; point and squeeze."  
"Point and squeeze, huh?" Jani replied, tucking the weapon away at her hip. "You worry too much, you know." she continued, placing her arms back around Shias neck, pulling her down and kissing her passionately. Shia chuckled and pressed her forehead against Janis.  
"I'd be a pretty shitty girlfriend otherwise."  
"Not possible" she replied, raising her head to seek out Shias eyes. "Just remember to worry about yourself as well... Just be careful, ok?"  
Shia leaned in and kissed her again, pulling her into a warm embrace.  
She let her fingers wander over Janis back until they reached tangled with the jet-black hair at the base of her neck. Her mind reached out to her and they allowed the universe to melt away momentarily.

"Finally!" Haddad exclaimed. "Sir, I've gotten through on one of the civilian channels, I have Illyria control for you."  
"Il-... what for?" James asked puzzled.  
The young serviceman rubbed his neck anxiously before responding. "Well... see, I figured they might be able to connect to the fleet in orbit... So I thought we might use their tower as a comm relay."  
James just looked at him for a moment, a smile creeping across his face. "Not bad, son, not bad at all. Patch it through."  
He walked swiftly over to his private terminal and tapped the comm button.  
"Illyria control, this is captain James Vega, service number 7228-AC-4610. I need you to patch me through to the SSV Fuji..."

The SSV Narva shot through the relay swiftly, a blue hue surrounding the hull as its barriers and shields worked overtime to contain its energy emissions, hiding it from view.  
James stood on the bridge, grasping the back of the pilots seat tightly, his eyes firmly focused on the readouts projected over the viewport. Shia rested against the co-pilot seat, awaiting her orders. She felt helpless at times like these, nothing to do but wait until you had to deal with the shit that would inevitably come flying your way.

"How's it looking?" James asked, glancing down at Ces in the seat below him  
"Not good, sir." she replied exasperatedly. "The few ships stationed around Benning have all been destroyed or neutralized. Enemy fleet has the planet nearly surrounded."  
He cursed under his breath. "Ok, take us in closer, but keep a safe distance."

The enemy fleet came into view, the visual scanners providing closeups on selected targets. Shia felt a chill down her spine as she watched the readouts.  
"There!" she called out "Are those bombers?"  
Ces swiped a across the interface, bringing up a visual scan of the vessels in question.  
" _Heavy_ bombers." James seethed.  
"They're going to glass the planet?"  
"Sure fucking looks like it... what's the fleet's ETA?"  
"Still 4 hours out, sir." Ces replied anxiously.  
"Fuck!" he barked out, slamming his gloved fist against the bulkhead. He rested his forehead against the hull, breathing heavily, brow furrowed as he planned their next move. If they waited for the fleet, the planet would be nothing but dust once they engaged the batarians; but they were only one ship.

"There's no choice." he said after a moments pause, turning back to face Shia. "We take our chances, do what we can to hold them off until the fleet arrives."  
Shia and Ces both nodded in understanding. This was the job, for better or for worse, dead or alive.  
"Orders, sir?" Ces asked, en eerie confidence apparent in her voice.  
"Charge the main battery and take us in, draw out a firing solution on those bombers. We'll take out as many as we can, all of them if possible." he replied coldly.

Watching Ces fly was like watching a painter create a work of art, the ship skirted craciously and quickly between the batarian ships so closely that they might have been able to see their reflections in the hulls, had the cockpit been facing them directly. They emerged from behind a cruiser and came up in a direct line of fire of the first bomber. They were massive ships, nearly equal to dreadnoughts in size but with weaponry limited to orbital bombardment; not a formidable foe on their own, lacking defensive weapons and significant shielding , but with a fleet of cruisers backing them up this was another matter entirely.

"You realize that once we fire, we'll light up like one of those holiday bushes you people use...?" Ces asked, directing the question at James.  
"They're trees. And yes, I know." he replied. "There's no choice, Ces. Have all stations reported combat ready?"  
"Aye sir, ready on your command."  
They watched in unison as the massive ships grew larger in the viewport, both Shia and James felt the familiar rush of adrenaline begin to surge through their systems. James took a deep breath, and then he gave the order. "Fire!"

The main battery tore through the bombers shields as if they weren't there, managing to ignite it's armory in the process. The massive lump of metal cringed silently in the void of space before sending a shattering shock wave in all directions, ripping it's neighbor that had strayed far to close for comfort apart, taking it with it as it went. It was poetry in motion, the Narva soared through the debris and honed in on its final target. The alarms in the cockpit began to sound as soon as the first volley had been fired, multiple target locks, the blackness outside beginning to fill with bright streams of light as the cruisers tried to hit a target to close to properly paint with a targeting solution. They approached the final bomber, the pulse of the main battery vibrated through the hull of the ship again as it released its deadly payload, leaving its target adrift in space, falling towards the atmosphere below.

The ship shook violently as enemy fire began to deflect against the shields. James screamed for Ces to get them out of dodge, but it was too late. A massive impact reverberated through the ship and all the instruments died. The engines followed suit, giving out in sequence and misfiring as they went, sending the ship into an uncontrolled spin. A moment of silence ensued before another impact shook them, the change in air pressure instantly noticeable.

"We're venting atmo!" Ces shouted, unblickling herself from her seat.  
"Masks on!" James ordered. "Emergency power?"  
"Coming online now, sir." Ces replied as she secured the final clasp of her mask.  
"Fuck, we're sitting ducks here." James cursed through his suit comm. "Send the order, all hands, we're evacuating."  
Ces spun around and stared at him, but his eyes told her there was no room for debate. "Yes sir..." she sighed, punching in the commands.  
James turned around to order Shia into the escape pod, only to see her already halfway down the walkway towards the CIC.  
"Corporal!" he called out, setting out to go after her.  
"I have to get to engineering." she called out, snapping her head over her shoulder but without missing a step.  
"We're evacuating, corporal! That's an order!"  
Shia stopped for a moment. "I'm going, James..." she said without turning around.  
"Alright damnit..." James sighed. "You just make sure you get your ass on one of those pods, you hear me?"  
She glanced back at him and nodded curtly, setting out down the hallway.

To her surprise the elevator was still working. It was risky, but she didn't have time to go crawling through the shafts. She brought up her suit comm rapidly.  
"Jani, you there?"  
"Here! I'm so glad to hear your voice!" her lovers frantic voice came in, sounding slightly artificial from within her mask.  
"Get to an escape pod, we're evacuating!"  
"I know, but I have to perform an emergency shutdown of the core, the crew won't make it far enough before it goes critical."  
"Jani-" Shia began.  
"No, it has to be done..."  
"Alright, hold on, I'll be right there."

Another explosion shook the ship as she exited the elevator and she stumbled forward, slamming into the glass overlooking the shuttle bay and the armory. Horror gnawed at the back of her mind as she saw the gaping hole into space where the hangar doors once were. She attempted to shake it off as she headed into engineering. Jani stood perched against the drive core controls, clasping her left arm tightly.

"You're injured!" Shia called out in horror as she reached her lovers side, seeing the blood drip from her arm. "We've got to go! Now!"  
"We need to shut down the core, we'll never make it far enough!" Jani said weakly, the fear evident in her voice.  
Shia pondered for a moment, weighing their options. "Alright, I'll do it. Show me how."  
Jani stared at her in horror through the opaque glass of her suit. "No, I'm not leaving you!" she protested.  
Shia grabbed Janis head gently and sought out her eyes. "Jani, please... I need to get you to safety, ok?"

Jani sobbed quietly but nodded and explained the shutdown sequence as best she could. Shia helped her lover to one of the escape pods and put her inside. She quickly applied some medi-gel to her wounds and made sure she was strapped in tight.  
"You'll be fine, honey... Stay hidden, get help if you can, but stay out of the fighting."  
"Shia, please..." Jani sobbed weakly  
Shia leaned in and hugged her as tightly as she could without making the injury worse. "Hey, hey... It's going to be ok... I'll find you, I promise."  
Pulling back slightly, she pressed her helmet against Jani. "I love you." she nearly whispered into her comm.  
"I love you too." the quarian sobbed back in her ear.  
She climbed out of the pod, and fighting back her own tears pressed the release controls and watched the pod shoot out of its bay rapidly.

The shutdown sequence was a simple matter, Jani had set it up and explained it well, but it had to be done in stages. The final stage was ready and she geared up to leave. The ship was falling apart at the seams, but at least the core wouldn't blow. She made her way to the remaining pod and climbed in as yet another explosion shook the ship. The pods were dreadful things, no dampeners and no kinetic barriers; a bumpy ride if there ever was one, but they would do in a pinch. She lurched forward as the g-forces shook her around in her harness as the pod launched. She watched in dismay through the small viewport the broken remains of her ship hanging dead in space. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a moment before activating the guidance system to take her down to the planet. The debris outside faded quickly as the atmosphere enveloped the pod in a blaze. She didn't know how many shipmates she'd lost, a small optimistic flicker in the deep recesses´of her mind allowed her to hope there had been none, though even her limited experience told her otherwise. She had never been a believer, not in the gods of Earth, nor in Athame or the spirits, still she offered a silent prayer for them all to anyone who might listen; and for the safety of the woman she loved.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The pods rudimentary dampeners gave out halfway through the descent, which was bad; the guidance system calling it a day at roughly the same time was worse. Bouncing around in her harness from the turbulence, Shia threw less than polite insults at the unresponsive VI for a moment before giving up the futile exercise to focus on not getting crushed against the fast-approaching surface of Benning. She glanced over at the telemetry, doing her best to ignore the rapid countdown on the altitude meter she quickly calculated her location. The drift was considerable, off by several clicks already. Getting to the rendezvous coordinates manually wasn't an option by this point, at least with her limited flight experience; next to none when she thought about it. She let out a sigh of relief as the backup systems finally came online, only to have its VI alert her to the fact that it apparently couldn't help her either.

["Warning. Descent vector outside approved safety parameters. Recalculating."] It sputtered monotonically, repeating itself after each failed attempt.  
"Why the hell would falling out of the sky uncontrollably be preferable to a faulty descent vector?" she shouted frantically, attempting to force the VI to just settle on one and do its job.  
["Recalculating."]  
"Screw it..." she grumbled, punching the big red button in front of her on the panel.

It was virtually the only thing she could clearly remember from the evacuation procedure rundown she'd had during basic, '... this one fires the braking thrusters manually, so a good rule of thumb; don't push the big red button!'. The thrusters fired as expected, and she felt the pod slow down considerably. Still, it was like falling from the roof of a tall building; better than falling from a tall building at an accelerated rate of course, but still not a place one liked to be. She clenched her teeth tightly and enveloped herself in as strong a biotic field as she could muster under the circumstances. The alarms ran in her ears, the altitude counter fast approaching zero. The first impact came as a shock, she tensed up, all muscles flexing to maintain the field; she screamed defiantly at the shocking and the rumbling, bracing for the final crash.

Her body ached in ways she'd never imagined were possible, she could hear her own rapid pulse in her ears; a dull throbbing in her head syncing up with the rhythm. She felt like she was lying under a thick, heavy blanket pressing down on her from all directions. She heard low, muffled sounds of thunder in the distance. At least it sounded like it was far away, though she couldn't be sure. The ringing returned as the blanket lifted from her senses, she tasted blood in her mouth and the smell of smoke and charred metal filled her nostrils. The ringing dispersed, and she began to make out the sounds around her. Muffled voices perforated the darkness as if she was listening through a closed door.

"Is it one of ours?" a barely audible female voice called out from afar.  
"Definitely..." a male responded, much closer to her "It's pretty banged up though."  
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get it open!"  
"You sure about that? Might not be... pretty."  
"Stop being such a fucking wuss, Ben. Either someone's alive in there, and we help, or we'll dig a few thermals out of the biosoup for our trouble. Either way it'll at least have an emergency medkit, so get it open."

She cringed slightly at the familiar sound of metal churning against metal. The darkness dispersed, a little at first as a small crack opened in front of her, being pushed ever wider until the harsh sunlight glared her strongly in the face. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the bright blue sky visible through the hatch above. She looked around, scanning the remains of the pod; not much left. The once nearly spherical space had been compressed beyond recognition, safe for a small sphere around her. She reasoned that the field she'd generated had done some good after all. She noticed now that she was still strapped to her seat, but lying against the ground tilted slightly backwards, at risk of tumbling over her own head without the straps. A shadow blotted out the light from above and she turned her head towards it again, a humanoid shape stood crouched down over the opening, the features were obscured by the bright backdrop but she recognized the sharp outlines as distinctly human, or at the very least not batarian.

"Hey, you alright down there?" he called out to her, poking his head inside the pod. He sounded young, his admittedly deep voice breaking slightly ever so often.  
"Anyone home?" The female called out from behind her would-be rescuer. She had gotten closer than last she spoke.  
"Yeah, one... I think?" he responded hesitantly, turning his head slightly to face the other voice.  
Shia groaned something that was meant to sound like 'Fine' but ended up as a jumbled grunting noise.

The young man, Ben, eventually managed to help her out of the small opening in the pod. She squinted her eyes against the glare; the hot humid climate of Benning wasn't something she'd had any desire to experience again any time soon. Ben handed her the medkit from the pod, and she promptly injected the medigel solution into her arm. The relief was instant, feeling the gel moving through her system like a cool breeze, releasing the knots and cranks in her stiff muscles as it went. She scanned herself with her omnitool, noting that the damage appeared to be mostly skin-deep, a few bruises and a mild concussion that the gel should be able to handle with ease. "Water?" she hissed, spitting out remnants of clotted blood and gravel from her mouth, extending her hand to the young man. Ben handed her a small canteen that she accepted gratefully.

"Feeling better, ma'am?" the female asked carefully as she approached her.  
"Yeah, just a little roughed up.. thanks" Shia replied, handing the canteen back. She sized the pair up briefly; the bright red uniforms glowed like fire in the sunlight, even in their current state of being covered in dust and dirt. _Cadets_ she mused to herself _No more than 15... Too young for this..._. She took in her surroundings. The pod had impacted a couple of three story buildings before lodging itself firmly in the plasticrete pavement of the street. Many of the buildings bore the signs of combat, but not as bad as she would have expected. She reached around her back to get her Vindicator rifle, popping a fresh clip in the slot before getting on her feet, turning back to the Cadets.

"Thanks... for getting me out of there." she remarked, stabbing a thumb towards the wreckage behind her.  
"No problem ma'am." the tall girl replied "I'm Maria and this is my brother Ben...er, I mean cadets Maria and Benjamin Beaumont, ma'am."  
"At ease, cadet" Shia chuckled "So, what's the sitch?"  
"Ma'am?"  
"The sitch, the situation; what's going on?"  
"Oh... well the bombing stopped pretty quickly, we managed to get a radio working briefly and it said the civilians have been evacuated to the shelters in the downtown area, we were heading there... the batarians are landing troops all over though." Maria trailed off, gesturing southwards with her Avenger. "Seems like they're massing the bulk of their forces over at the south spaceport."  
"Classic move. They couldn't bomb the planet to shit so they intend to occupy it... use the civilians as a bargaining chip." Shia scoffed, tapping her omnitool. "And still roughly three hours until the fleet arrives."  
"The fleet?" Ben interjected excitedly. "We have help coming?"  
"Yeah, but it won't do us any good if the batarians have control of the city when they arrive."  
"So, what do we do ma'am?" Maria looked at her eagerly. Shia contemplated for a moment. She didn't relish the idea of taking cadets into a firefight. But the fight was upon them whether she liked it or not, and the idea of leaving them to fend for themselves seemed far less appealing.  
"We're moving out." she said finally "Make our way dowtown. If that's where they evacuated the civilians, it's likely the Alliance has an FOB set up in the vecinity. It's our best bet."  
"Aye, ma'am!" The two youngsters called out in near unison as they sprang to action immediately with a surprising amount of energy.

Shia, as senior, took point. She stopped briefly and gazed towards the buildings of the Joughin central district, black smoke bellowing from deep scratches in their pristine surfaces of steel and glass towering over the prefab sprawl that stretched out in all directions from their bases. It was several kilometers away, at least. She frowned at the low rumbling of gunfire in the distance. " _We are Alliance marines! We laugh in the face of death and we run towards the sound of gunfire! Now who's like us?"_ she repeated the battle cry in her mind, tracing her fingers along the rifle. "Damn few..." she said as a smirk crept across her face.

"Fucking space goblins' go down hard" James cursed, unloading a final spray of bullets into the vorcha trooper below him, a red skull glowing brightly on its shoulder pads. He lowered his rifle and sat back against the wall of the barricade to take a swig of water. The cool liquid felt invigorating as it spread down his throat and dispersed around his abdomen, easing the sinking feeling that had made itself known there since he left his ship behind. He felt a presence to his side and forced his eyes open to investigate.

"Another scouting party?" Ashley inquired, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder; her still functional hand, the left one tied tightly to her chest in a sling.  
"Yeah... the _pendejos_ just keep coming. So far nothing but Blood Pack vorcha and a few mechs, Eclipse I think." he responded, throwing a glance across to barricade to confirm that they were still in the clear. "I think they're mostly just probing our defenses." His eyes focused on her injured arm, gesturing to it with the bottle as he spoke. "How's it feel?"  
"What, this? No biggie, comes out of the sling in two days... You know, if we live that long."  
"We will... I'll make certain of it." he seethed, hate seeping from his words as he spoke.  
"You should lay down, rest for a while James." she said with deep concern in her voice. "For a few minutes at least."  
"I'm fine." he said coolly, turning his head away from her.  
"You're _not_ fine, James. You lost your ship no more than an hour ago."  
He sighed and turned back to face her again, only the let his eyes wander and settle firmly on the ground in front of him.  
"Yeah, I guess you're right." he said as a stood up and turned to walk into the FOB they had constructed in front of the central administrative building. The sight of a full battalion put him at ease somewhat, but did little to quench the uneasiness and worry gnawing its way into his gut. Ashley patted him gently on the back when she strolled up beside him.  
"We'll find her... I promise you that."  
"Yeah, I hope so." he responded, allowing himself to give his fellow captain a careful smile. "Any news on my engineer?"  
Ashley frowned slightly as she spoke. "No, nothing yet... We had to call off the search for now, too much contact in that area."  
"Shit!" he cursed as they began to walk to towards the tents serving as rudimentary barracks. "I just hope she's... staying out of trouble."

The medigel worked its magic, and she could feel the strenght returning to her injured arm. She weighed the Carnifex carefully in her hand. " _I can do this."_  
She ducked behind a desk in the ruined storefront as the sound of voices from outside reached her ears through the suit amplifiers. The translation matrix analysis flashed in front of her eyes on the inside of the visor. _Batarian , krogan_  
She huddled down behind the plasticrete desk, gripping her pistol tightly and tuning the amplifiers up as she waited for the voices to disappear down the street. " _Oh, please Shia... please be alright."_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Krishk hated krogan, he really did. They looked down on vorcha, treated them like animals, beat them and even killed them if it was their fancy. Still, they were larger than any vorcha, more powerful. And Krishk may not be smart, but unlike most vorcha he knew better than to challenge an obviously superior opponent. For this reason he didn't object when his master, Gern, ordered him brusquely to stay behind and search the battered storefronts on the street for supplies.

He surveyed the area for a moment. The street hadn't been badly hit by the bombardment, short as it had been, but all the windows had been blown out and the sharp shards sparkled across the pavement. Of course, his master hadn't seen fit to grant him the privilege of boots. Few vorcha were ever granted more than insular pieces of armor, a shoulder pad here, a gauntlet there; more so the krogan could tell them apart than for any tactical or protective reasons. He hissed as he made his way towards the first storefront. His people may be resilient, and a foot full of glass shards wouldn't kill him but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

The first store he surveyed yielded very little in terms of useful supplies, just a tube of medigel from a first aid locker in the back. The tube felt stale instead of the normal squishy consistency one would expect, but he was anything but picky. The store had been a food outlet of some kind, not quite a restaurant but plates sat out on a few unturned tables with food still on them, half eaten. He sniffed at what looked like a piece of charred meat and promptly gobbled it up. It was dry and cold and the spices tasted foul, but still better than the grain he was usually fed. Spitting a piece of bone from his mouth, he ventured outside and proceeded down the street. The second storefront looked more promising as it appeared to have been selling various tech components. Perhaps he'd even find an intact omnitool, and if he was _very_ lucky he might even manage to hide it from the others and keep it for himself. He let out an appreciative hiss as he began to rummage through the toppled shelves and boxes.

He stopped cold as he hard a click behind him, followed by the unmistakable sound of a mass accelerator weapon whirling into action. "D-drop the weapon." a modulated voice behind him stammered. He hissed again, this time less than appreciative.

"D-drop the weapon."

Jani cursed herself. She had meant to sound authoritative and dangerous, but her voice caught and it came out much like she felt, as if from a scared little girl. Still, it was done now and there would be no do-overs. She flicked the gun sideways at the vorcha in her sights for him to throw his weapon on the floor. The creature simply glared at her unmovingly. She was unsure if it had even understood her. While she had spoken in pidgin for the sake of clarity, she'd never met or even seen a vorcha in the flesh before. If she was honest with herself, the thing looked like a monster, all wiry limbs, knotted scars across greenish skin stretched thin over dense muscles and sharp teeth like some of the deep water predators on Rannoch. Suddenly, it spoke, and Jani unconsciously flinched a step backwards in surprise.

"Quarians weak!" it screeched at her "Krishk can take you!"

The vorcha raised it's weapon to fire. Jani yelped but squeezed the trigger, like Shia had told her to and everything got dark. She didn't even register the shot, but she did register the eerie silence that followed. For a brief, terrifying moment she thought she might have died, but realized that she had simply shut her eyes. Carefully she opened one and then the other. A light mist had filled the room from the heat of the nozzle and the dust from the impact on the wall after it had passed through its target. And on the floor lay the vorcha, unmoving with a pool if blood forming under it, a large ragged wound on its back jutting outwards like a flower petal. She shuddered at the sight. Still grasping her pistol tightly she moved slowly and deliberately towards the entrance of the store, prodding the vorcha with her foot when she reached it. No reaction. She proceeded to the door and peeked out. The street was deserted, it appeared that the vorchas companions had moved on without him. She sighed in relief and went back inside. Feeling suddenly brave, she took a moment to survey her hiding place. Seeing all the tech strewn about, she perked up. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it before. _A radio, of course!_ She began excitedly rummaging through the piles, pulling out circuit boards and conductors and actually had to suppress a squeel of delight as she found treasure in the form of a functional soldering gun. _I may not be much of a soldier, but engineering is another matter._ She tittered as she got to work.

"Is war always this quiet? We've only heard a few shots in almost an hour..." Ben whispered to his sisters as they moved slowly behind their new impromptu commander down the deserted streets. In fact, he realized, they'd only hard a single faint gunshot in the distance for the past 15 minutes. Either this was good news, or a bad omen.

"Calm before the storm, I'd say" Shia replied from the front, shocking him slightly that she'd been able to hear him at all, and also for confirming his fears.

"Spaceport's on the other side of the central district though, so if we're lucky we'll have free reign to the FOB. Never hurts to be careful though..."

"Aye, ma'am." he replied and swallowed hard.

"Will you stop fidgeting! It's making me nervous." Maria hissed. Ben ignored her. He knew his sister well, and knew she was prone to take her own nerves or fear out on others, him especially. It could be annoying at times, but this was hardly the time to get into it. They suddenly heard a loud explosion, followed by a cacophony of gunfire.

"Sounds bad, and it's coming from downtown..." Maria said worriedly.

"Alright, double time." Shia called out and picked up the pace. She didn't like taking two kids _towards_ the fighting, but she also knew that's where any friendlies would be. She just hoped there would be some left when they got there.

"Fuck!" James cursed loudly "Shore up the barricade!" He keyed his omnitool. _'Still another hour and a half to go, shit!'_

"Aye!" a young woman, a Lieutenant, answered and proceeded to shield the gap created by the missile impact with a biotic field as another soldier enveloped a cargo container in a shimmering glow and carefully directed it to fill it. Up on what remained of the barricade, his troops had opened fire. All of them.

"This is it!" he called to the assembled marines, infantrymen and assorted police officers. "Get to a firing position and give 'em everything you've got!"

Satisfied when they all sprung into action, he climbed the barricade himself to gauge the situation. No more mechs this time. _'Guess the fight's kicked out of Eclipse, pansies.'_ he mused with a smirk. A veritable sea of mercenaries were present, however, krogan this time along with the vorcha. And for the first time since they bunkered down, he spotted batarian regulars, or as regular as a soldier fighting for a rogue separatist state could get, amongst the attackers. He tapped his finger to his ear.

"Vega to tower team."

The "tower", as he'd dubbed it, was a small perch on a mostly intact balcony overlooking the FOB. A large hole had been blown away on the concrete wall that served as a railing, where he had placed Amherst with a banged up M-97 scavenged from the local police forces.

"Go ahead sir." Amherst replied over the light static.

"I want fire discipline. Krogan overseers and batarian troops, without a command structure the vorcha packs will be in disarray."

"Aye, aye!"

A moment passed before he heard the dull _thump_ of the rifle and watched as a krogan, a fresh hole in his head plate from an armor piercing round, slumped to the ground. The process repeated itself over and over again, each one tugging on the corners of his mouth slightly. As predicted, the vorcha shocktroopers began to loose focus and the attack become disorganized before his eyes. They were still a prominent foe of course, but the pace slowed down as they began to attacking each other as well as the Alliance soldiers and their fortifications. His earpiece crackled.

"Sir, movement by the rear barricade."

He felt the urge to groan loudy, _'This day just keeps getting better and better. If the fucking Reapers show up at the end of this I'm quitting'._

"That has to be it, right?" Maria huffed behind her, both recruits seemingly out of breath from the fast pace, lack of sleep and stress. Shia smirked when she heard Ben's equally breathy muttering of "God I hope so."

"Yep, that's it, hold up!" she replied, raising her hand with a clenched fist out of habit.

"Flash!" she shouted. While there were no code signs for this operation that she knew of, and there wouldn't be considering, the classics were always a good choice. She doubted many outside the Alliance military would know even the most clichéd responses anyway, barring an obsession for human war movies.

"Thunder!" a voice called from the barricade, and she saw a shiny blue helmet pop up from behind cover briefly. "Friendlies inbound, get the ladder!"

She turned around and grinned at the two kids. "Home sweet home."

The trio made their way to the barricade, a solid wall of stacked rubble, skycars, parts of a prefab wall and a cargo container stacked tighlty between two of the buildings. The soldiers on top lowered a ladder of polymer rope.

"Maria, you first, Ben second. I'll cover." She said, waving her forward.

"Aye, ma'am." the girl replied, slinging her rifle on her back and started her climb. Her brother followed neatly behind. She made to follow, but stopped to make sure it was clear.

"I've got it, Corporal!" a young solider called from atop, trailing his rifle down the street.

"Appreciated." she called, already halfway up.

As she reached the top of the barricade, she hauled the ladder up after her and handed it to the Private. Turning around, she was immediately engulfed in a one armed bear hug fit for a krogan.

"Oh thank god!" Ashley sighed in her ear. "Thank god..."

"Ummh, aunt Ash... there's a war?" Shia said haltingly when Ashley showed no signs of letting go. Ashley held her out at arms length with her uninjured arm, a slight flush to her cheeks.

"Yes, yes of course!"

"You two should report to the shelter:" Shia said, turning to the slightly dumbstruck Maria and Ben. She glanced at Ashley for approval. Receiving a nod and a proud little smirk in response.

"Aye, ma'am." They replied, heading off towards the administrative bunker that now held much of the cities' population in its extensive basement level.

As the two kids scurried away, she saw James arrive.

"Captain!." she greeted him with a crisp salute. James, of course, waved it off, grabbing her affectionately by the shoulder.

"Glad you're in one piece, kid. " he said "And we could sure use you."

"How bad is it?" she asked, glancing over his should to the forward barricade where the smattering of gunfire was still ongoing.

"We're holding for now. Fleets still an hour out though, and we don't know if this is the brunt of it or if they're just softening our defenses." He replied, looking in between grim fatalism and hopefulness.

She looked around the compound, praying silently to see a flurry of mossy green fabric bounding towards her, shining eyes behind opaque glass, but saw only her fellow soldiers. Biting her lip she looked back to James and Ashley, ready to ask the dreaded question. James, able to read her well, anticipated the unspoken question.

"We haven't heard anything yet," he said glumly "but no news are bettwe than bad news. We'll find your girl, kid. She's smart, she's laying low, I'm sure of it."

Shia nodded "Thank you, Sir."

James smirked and patted her shoulder "Good, now get to a firing position, can't afford idle hands right now."

"C'moon you bosh'tet" Jani grumbled, working her fingers frantically to slide the last conductor into place. With a satisfying click, it slid in and she sighed. Hovering her omnitool over her creation to give it a jolt, she watched the contraption in anticipation. The power surge made it crackle slightly, a few sparks flew but it appeared to have power. She smiled shakily and interfaced the data port to her suit. A buzzing of an open radio channel filled her auditory outputs, and her smile broadened. Selecting the first channel on the band, she began a recording.

"Engineer Jani'Nara, SSV Narva to any Alliance personnel, please respond." She saved it and routed it through the new impromptu radio system she had created and set it to repeat transmission while cycling through the open channels. _'And now, I wait...'_


End file.
